TheCable

President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday inaugurated the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) centre of excellence at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria.

While inaugurating the project, Buhari pledged more funding to the education sector.

He commended the apex bank for supporting the federal government’s investments in the education sector as well as other areas of the economy.

The president urged the bank to extend such funding support to research to ensure economic development of the country.

In his remark, Godwin Emefiele, CBN governor, said the project was borne out of the need to produce a critical mass of skilled professionals that would be able to apply their knowledge toward supporting growth and continued innovation in the country’s financial sector and the economy in general.

“This is against the recognition that the dearth of skilled manpower constituted a binding constraint toward making Nigeria the number one hub for economic activity in Africa,” he said.

“The three first generation federal universities in the country across the six geo-political zones were selected under the first phase of the intervention programme. They are Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria; University of Ibadan (UI); and the University of Nigeria (UNN), Nsukka.”

He said the programme was later expanded to include six other tertiary institutions across Nigeria.

According to him, the centres are nearing completion in the various institutions.

Emefiele said the bank would remain committed to providing funding and infrastructural support to the education sector.