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Retired Lt. Gen. Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma, a Nigerian billionaire and former army chief, will lead a drive to raise N5 billion, about $3.75 million, to rehabilitate Government College Katsina-Ala, a Benue State school reported to be 111 years old.
The Katsina-Ala Old Boys Association, known as KAOBA, announced the initiative in Abuja. The association will formally launch the fundraiser Monday, Oct. 19, at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre in the capital. The dollar figure uses the official rate of N1,332.75 to the dollar on Oct. 7.
KAOBA National President Anthony Adda said the immediate goal is to stop further decline at the school and restore its reputation for academic excellence. “The essence of what we are doing is to intervene so that the school will not die,” Adda said.
Adda said several classroom blocks remain in poor condition. “Some of the structures we used when I entered Form One in 1967 are still there,” he said. He also blamed neglect by those responsible for the school’s upkeep. “It appears there has been a lot of negligence on the part of whoever is supposed to take care of the school,” he said.
The college belongs to the Benue State government. Adda said official efforts to secure repairs have made little progress. He also alleged that previous administrations allowed encroachment on school land and sold some staff quarters, leaving some teachers living off campus. Former Gov. Samuel Ortom set up a committee on the encroachment, Adda said, and the association is still seeking action from the current administration.
Danjuma is an alumnus of the school and has helped it before. KAOBA says he renovated all five hostels about three years ago. ThisDay reported in December 2020 that he gave the association N60 million toward hostel renovation. The school’s alumni also include two other former chiefs of army staff, Joe Akaahan and Victor Malu, according to that report.
No pledge amounts have been reported for the new drive. KAOBA has invited the governors of Benue, Taraba, Nasarawa, Plateau, Kogi and Cross River states, though their attendance is expected rather than confirmed. The association is also approaching corporate organizations, financial institutions, traditional rulers and wealthy Nigerians.
Danjuma, 88, founded South Atlantic Petroleum in 1995 and holds interests in shipping, insurance, chemicals and hospitality, including the NAL-Comet Group and The Wheatbaker hotel in Lagos. Bloomberg has estimated his net worth at $1.2 billion.
He has also funded education beyond his old school. He donated $1.36 million to the University of Ibadan’s College of Medicine in 2023 and built a female hostel at the University of Benin.
The association has urged the school’s parent-teacher association to report its problems to the Benue State Ministry of Education.
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