Platform Capital Refurbishes, Donates State-of-the-Art Lecture Halls to Unilag

Platform Capital Refurbishes, Donates State-of-the-Art Lecture Halls to Unilag

Mary Nnah

The University of Lagos currently ranks 1st in Nigeria, 8th in Africa and its Entrepreneurship Centre is adjudged to be 3rd in Africa by Forbes. All of this progress has been achieved under the leadership of Professor Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos. His goal is for the University to rank 1st across board, and he believes that by partnering with corporate organisations and private institutions in Nigeria, it is achievable.

Improving the learning environment and culture, providing access to world-class technology and content partnerships with universities across the globe are some of the tools that will help in accomplishing this goal. Platform Capital has answered the University’s call and taken on the initiative to make these tools available. The first phase of this was the refurbishment and donation of 3 ultra-modern lecture halls for the University of Lagos Business School (ULBS)’s Executive MBA programme.

During the refurbishment, the entire building was renovated, and lecture halls were fully fitted with state-of-the art technology including interactive white boards, sound systems and versatile furniture, to ensure a best-in-class digital learning environment for students.

Professor Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, Vice-Chancellor, University of Lagos said, “This is a unique facility given to the university by Platform Capital and we are grateful to have received a facility like this which will enable students to have online lectures real-time. This will not only increase our ranking but will also increase our visibility as a university that is e-learning compliant.”

Executive Director, University of Lagos Business School (ULBS), Professor Abraham Osinubi, noted, “The goal of the University of Lagos Business School (ULBS) is to create a business synergy in education, leadership and management in a world-class setting and we thank Dr. Akindele of Platform Capital for providing us with the facilities which we need to effectively implement our goals. So, we now have world class facilities which can be used to transmit lectures from any part of the globe, making this not only the number 1 university in Nigeria but also the best business school in Nigeria.”

In addition to the refurbished rooms, Akindele pledged the sum of $10,000 as a prize to the best graduating student, automatic employment at Platform Capital and its portfolio companies for the top 3 graduating students and internships for students of the ULBS Executive MBA programme annually.

Akindele said that, “The launch of the world class lecture halls in the University of Lagos (UNILAG), was just phase 1 for the University of Lagos. We are going to complete the entire building before the end of the year, install a full end-to-end fibre data link to complement the state-of-the-art telecommunications and infrastructure. With that in place, from these lecture halls, we can run programmes from Harvard to Silicon Valley Business School to ISM Paris and many more business schools online and real time for our best and brightest on the continent. If we educate and expose one mind who goes, innovates and solves a problem, imagine the compound effect of that on Africa.”

In attendance at the unveiling ceremony on June 4th were Professor Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Professor Ben Oghojafor, Deputy Vice Chancellor, Management Services; Professor Folasade Ogunsola, �Deputy Vice Chancellor, Development Services; Professor Abraham Osinubi, Executive Director of the University of Lagos Business School (ULBS), �Dr. Lateef Odekunle, Director, Human Resources Development Centre (HRDC), Professor Babajide Alo, FAS, Chairman, University of Lagos Business School Advisory Board and a former Deputy Vice Chancellor; Professor F.E.A. Lesi, Provost, College of Medicine, University of Lagos; Professor L.O. Chukwu, Director, Academic Affairs; and Dr. Taiwo Ipaye, former Registrar.

The team at Platform Capital was also represented by Yomi Akapo, CEO, Platform Capital; Dr. Ponmile Osibo, Partner, Platform Capital; Irunna Ejibe & Gbogboade Akindele, board members at Platform Capital; as well as Oluwatosin Odusanya, CEO, Africa Terminals and Yomi Tokosi, CEO, Riggs Ventures West Africa and other dignitaries.

Platform Capital is a growth markets focused, sector agnostic, principal investment and advisory firm, which deploy patient, value accretive capital alongside international and local value investors to create champion businesses with the potential for regional or global scale. Platform also provides end-to-end bespoke Corporate Finance and Capital Markets advisory services.

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