Table of Contents
Nigerian billionaire Muhammadu Indimi has donated ₦2 billion (about $1.3 million) to support educational development at the University of Maiduguri.
The pledge was announced as the university marked its 25th combined convocation and 50th anniversary, an event used to relaunch its endowment fund and court private capital for a campus that has operated for years under the shadow of insecurity and tight public finances.
Nigeria’s former ambassador to China and Burkina Faso, Baba Ahmed Jidda, publicly praised Indimi’s contribution, saying the funds would strengthen teaching and research at the institution, commonly known as UNIMAID. Jidda noted that the billionaire’s support for the university goes back more than a decade.
Jidda recalled representing then–Borno State governor, now Vice President Kashim Shettima, at the commissioning of a project Indimi funded at Lynn University in Florida in 2014. He said he urged Indimi at the time to replicate that kind of philanthropy in Borno State and has since watched him become one of UNIMAID’s most consistent backers.
Saturday’s endowment relaunch saw the university raise more than ₦4 billion in total, with Indimi emerging as the single largest donor. Governors from Nigeria’s North East, represented by Adamawa’s Ahmadu Fintiri, committed a further ₦1.8 billion, while businessman Sir Emeka Offor pledged ₦250 million.
Indimi is the executive chairman of Oriental Energy Resources, a privately held oil and gas producer. He previously financed a multibillion-naira complex at UNIMAID that houses the Muhammadu Indimi Centre for Distance Learning and an international conference centre, commissioned in 2021 to support e-learning and modern teaching facilities.
The latest donation is structured as part of UNIMAID’s endowment fund, aimed at giving the university a more predictable revenue stream beyond federal allocations. University officials say proceeds will be directed toward research, infrastructure and student support, though detailed spending plans have not yet been made public.
Vice President Shettima, speaking at the anniversary events, used the occasion to call on other wealthy Nigerians to back universities, warning that the country cannot compete globally if its higher-education system remains underfunded.
For UNIMAID, Indimi’s ₦2 billion pledge cements a long-running relationship with one of Borno State’s most prominent businessmen and signals that private money will play a bigger role in keeping the university’s classrooms, labs and lecture halls running.
