Federal Mortgage Bank to fund 500 housing units for ABU staff
Ahmadu Bello University received approval of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) to fund 500 housing units for staff of the university, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Adamu Ahmed, has disclosed.
The Vice-Chancellor explained that the project would be under the National Housing Fund (NHF) scheme with a planned expansion to 1000 housing units.
Prof Ahmed made this known when he spoke on staff welfare while addressing the 85th (Ordinary Meeting) of Congregation which was held at Mamman Kontagora Square recently.
According to him, the university would equally commence a site and services scheme for staff in the next few months.
The Vice-Chancellor stressed that staff welfare would not be treated as an after-thought and that staff retiring without own-housing was being addressed strategically.
“I have made commitment to engaging constructively with our in-house unions to rethink the framework of staff welfare in service and in retirement through new models for healthcare access, and cooperative schemes”, he further said.
Prof Ahmed said the present tax regime, which he described as “unfavorable”, had been a source of concern, saying that a joint committee of unions and management was raised to engage government for tax reliefs.
He said the university equally addressed the problem of non-payment of hazard allowance to non-teaching staff in its collective efforts to ensure staff earned what was due to them.
Additionally, the Vice-Chancellor disclosed that the university instituted mechanisms to ensure timely payment of salaries and entitlements.
He further said commitments were equally made towards resolving grey areas in the new promotion guidelines in close consultation with the staff unions so that career progression was not hindered.
He disclosed that the implementation of the directorate system in the Registry and Units under the Vice-Chancellor’s Office was ongoing through two commitees.
Prof Ahmed thanked most sincerely the unions for their understanding on these matters and for their commitment to resolving all pending issues.
The Vice-Chancellor also pointed out that a major challenge to improving staff productivity in the university had been the inability to recruit new staff in the last five years to replace the nearly 1000 personnel lost through retirement.
He, however, disclosed that the university was now in the final stage of clearance to determine if that constraint could be overcome by engaging the Budget Office of the Federation.
The Vice-Chancellor stressed that all these efforts were on account that a university could only grow if its staff were motivated, fairly treated, and intellectually engaged.
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Public Affairs Directorate,
Office of the Vice-Chancellor,
Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria (NAM)
Sunday, 28th September, 2025
