The University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) Alumni Association has announced plans to launch a N1bn scholarship endowment fund next year to support indigent students of the institution.

The Global President of the association, Baba Shettima Kukawa, disclosed this weekend in Abuja during the association’s annual general meeting.

He said the fund would provide financial support to students, including assistance with their living expenses, although the number of beneficiaries would be determined by the resources available and prevailing needs when the scheme takes off.

Kukawa said the scholarship fund was part of the association’s plans to deepen its contributions to the university and improve the welfare of students.

He said the association had presented its 2027 agenda to members, which included the establishment of a professional development board to strengthen networking, knowledge-sharing and mentorship among alumni.

The board will initially cover five professional fields, including accounting, law, medicine and geology, Kukawa said.

He said the initiative would create opportunities for experienced alumni to share their knowledge with younger graduates and students through mentorship and coaching.

The alumni president said the association was also working to strengthen its institutional structures to ensure that it remained effective beyond the tenure of its current leadership.

He said the administration, which came into office last year, had adopted a three-point agenda of unity, structure and impact.

He explained that the association had created an online portal through which nearly 10,000 alumni had registered within four months.

“We came in last year and said we had a three-point agenda. One is unity, two is structure, and three is impact.

“If you do not mobilise all the members who graduated from the school and bring them under one umbrella, whatever you do will be disjointed,” he said.

He added that the association was developing policies, procedures and frameworks to improve its operations and ensure that its interventions benefited members, students, the university and the wider community.

The Vice-Chancellor of UNIMAID, Prof. Muhammed Laminu Mele, urged alumni of the institution to strengthen their support for its development.

Speaking at the alumni’s reunion dinner and award night in Abuja, Mele said their collective contributions were vital to sustaining academic excellence and national development.

The event brought together alumni and other stakeholders to celebrate the institution’s achievements and discuss ways to advance its growth.

The vice-chancellor urged graduates to remain connected to their alma mater and contribute to its development, irrespective of their positions and locations.

He noted that the university’s graduates had distinguished themselves in various sectors, including government, corporate organisations, security agencies, education and international institutions.

“Wherever our alumni go, whether in the halls of government, corporate boardrooms, security agencies, classrooms or international organisations, they carry the touch of UNIMAID with them, and they do that with unmatched distinction,” he said.

Mele said the university had overcome several challenges through collective resilience and support from the Federal Government, Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum, other state governors, the National Assembly, partners and traditional rulers.

He congratulated award recipients and urged alumni to use the reunion to renew their commitment to the institution.

The vice-chancellor also acknowledged Vice-President Kashim Shettima for his leadership and role in mobilising support for the successful relaunch of the university’s Endowment Fund.

Earlier, the Global President of the UNIMAID Alumni Association, Baba Shettima Kukawa, said his executive had made progress in building a stronger and more inclusive global alumni network.

He said the association had registered nearly 10,000 members through its online portal, describing it as the largest database of the university’s alumni.

Kukawa said the platform was also used to conduct the association’s first nationwide online election.

He disclosed that the association was developing a scholarship endowment fund, mentorship programme and professional development board to support students and graduates.

“These are all things that we believe will be set off before the end of the year,” he said.

In his keynote address, President of the Worldwide University of Lagos Alumni Association, Engr. Ifeoluwa Oyedele, described UNIMAID’s survival and continued pursuit of academic excellence despite insurgency in the North-East as a demonstration of institutional resilience.

He recalled that there were calls for the university to relocate from Maiduguri during the height of the insurgency but said its continued presence in the city reflected the determination of its management, staff, students and alumni.

Oyedele urged alumni associations to establish leadership succession frameworks to preserve institutional memory and ensure continuity of programmes.

He also called for structured mentorship programmes to help younger graduates navigate unemployment, economic uncertainty and professional challenges.

He said alumni associations should strengthen relationships among older graduates, undergraduates and current students to mobilise their intellectual, professional, financial and social resources for institutional development.

He added that unity should not be mistaken for uniformity, saying alumni could hold different opinions while remaining committed to a common purpose.