Where will he get that kinda money from? After all the noise he will end up building a glorified secondary school with far less than 50b.

Lets be serious and stop throwing up oversize figures

By building universities he is creating more jobs.

More lecturers in various fields as well as non-academic staff like, engineers, administrators, accountants, auditors, ICT experts, medical doctors, nurses, pharmacists, laboratory technologists, security men, porters, drivers will be employed to run a standard university.

TheSuperX:
He should create more jobs instead, imagine building universities while graduates are still jobless for decades due to unemployment.

TheSuperX:
He should create more jobs instead, imagine building universities while graduates are still jobless for decades due to unemployment.

/

It is still far better than building churches and auditorium that add zero values to the system.

/

TheSuperX:
You are so f**lish, can you compare those rubbish to industries and companies that can hire thousands of people?

Abi you go like become cleaner and security man? Ozuor!

You didn’t hear or see his Portfolio..

Where is your father again ? How many jobs has he created ?

You are teaching another person’s father what to do with his money..

Bush meat!

kettykin:
Thank God everyone is now having a mindset if giving back to the society. I hope this investment is in ikwere land

Yes in his village Isiokpo.

frog12:
i agree but you know rich man wan spend, let am spend

more like an ego trip for him

Hedonisco:


Mumu. So it is not human beings like you that would work in the university as lecturers, admin staff, cleaners, security men, maintenance, etc? It is not Nigerians that would be used to build the university?

yes it is but with that money he can build a world class phone manufacturing.
Not assembly óò.. Manufacturing except the chip set factory, that will cater for Nigeria and other Africa economy.. Not only phone but phone accessories, and parts screen, ear piece, etc.

With that money he can have an oil. Plam plantation or cocoa seseme seeds, well it's his money tho.. And with 5 years scale up.. All he needs his his friends like 200 of them donating or buying $100m yearly... But that school will cost die..

DaddyJapan:


$500 million university? Okay, I have a bridge that connects Nigeria to France to sell.

The guy drop Lamba

Top notch skills acquisition center is more preferable to University. If you see the kind of skill centers in Germany, you will know that we are still far behind. He should commit that money to building of skills acquisition centers and partner with City & Guilds of London for conduct of tradesperson skills examinations. Skills acquisition and blue collar jobs should be emphasized more than university degrees that adds nothing to the economy.

TheSuperX:
You are so f**lish, can you compare those rubbish to industries and companies that can hire thousands of people?

Abi you go like become cleaner and security man? Ozuor!

University employs thousands.

And we don't have enough world class ones.

Focusmind:
Top notch skills acquisition center is more preferable to University. If you see the kind of skill centers in Germany, you will know that we are still far behind. He should commit that money to building of skills acquisition centers and partner with City & Guilds of London for conduct of tradesperson skills examinations. Skills acquisition and blue collar jobs should be emphasized more than university degrees that adds nothing to the economy.

That's what I would have done as an engineer.

But he is a business person.

If he can build a world class center of excellence that would serve as a direct pipeline for the banking world and business organisation , then it's not bad.

So if the industries are in place, who will work there?? Is it the quack graduates we are producing?? Bro, Nigeria really need a very quick intervention in the educational sector.... How many graduates on the Nigerian streets that can actually practice what they learnt in school..... Our universities are full of theories without any single practicals, ask a Nigerian what he learnt in school, he will tell you everything but ask him/her to put it into practice, he can't.... Abegi if we really learn well in school, we should be bringing inventions and not looking for employment up and down

TheSuperX:
You are so f**lish, can you compare those rubbish to industries and companies that can hire thousands of people?

Abi you go like become cleaner and security man? Ozuor!

Hedonisco:


Mumu. So it is not human beings like you that would work in the university as lecturers, admin staff, cleaners, security men, maintenance, etc? It is not Nigerians that would be used to build the university?

Maybe he thinks it is Russians that would take up the jobs.

Really impressed

TheSuperX:
He should create more jobs instead, imagine building universities while graduates are still jobless for decades due to unemployment.

He has already created (and still creating) "jobs" through his Access Holdings

Besides, diversification doesn't hurt anyone & the proposed development will also create jobs simultaneously.

We need industrilisation not universitization.

Swiftgrp:

That's good to know. Being a Rivers State indigene, I assume Herbert Wigwe would want to set the world-class Uni over there in Rivers State. On the other hand, it could be in Lagos State since he is also professionally a Lagos big dude... A part of the original Guaranty Trust Bank employees who moved on to set up Access Bank.

I read years back how Herbert's father who was then a Nigerian military officer in Abeokuta survived being killed in the aftermath of the counter coup of 1966, and how he was tipped off by a colleague who asked him what he was still doing in the West when some of his military colleagues had relocated. He miraculously made it back with his nuclear family to their ancestral home town near the Port Harcourt area. It was a very fascinating story of survival and the triumph of the human spirit... I never forgot that interview.

What exactly do you mean by "professionally a Lagos big dude''?

Anyway, the university has since commenced at Isiokpo his hometown.

vanitybutiwanti:
The school is in isiokpo in ikwerre LGA Rivers state, construction is at an advanced stage

@vanitybutiwanti
Thank you for giving me the latest update. Yes his hometown is Isiokpo. I was trying to wrack my brain to remember his town but I remember Herbert's father mentioning in that timeless Sunday Punch interview that his hometown is near Port Harcourt.

What a big surprise, but it's good to know that the construction of the Uni is at an advanced stage not at a foundation level. I once worked at a multinational in PH from the 1990s so I'm always glad when I get to hear positive developments happening there and besides the Ikwerre folks and indeed Rivers indigenes are likeable folks.

We're looking forward to seeing world-class education and entrepreneurship being taught in the Uni.

Armaggedon:
What exactly do you mean by "professionally a Lagos big dude''?

Anyway, the university has since commenced at Isiokpo his hometown.

@Armaggedon,

Yes thanks for the info about the Uni and Herbert's Isiokpo hometown... His professional working life is majorly in Lagos State so that's why I said Herbert Wigwe is a "Lagos big dude" (or top gun). He used to work for the then new generation bank called GTB which was co-founded back in the 1990s by Fola Adeola and Tayo Aderinokun.

Herbert then left GTB to co-found another new generation bank called Access Bank with Aigboje Aig-Imokhuede thereby sealing their names in the sands of time among the modern banking pioneers. They brought that iconic GTB work ethics into Access Bank operations. These guys have a lot of international and local investments made from their banking assets running into millions of USD.

All the best.

StreetFight:


Have you ever heard Yorubas say "I hope this is for Ijebu land or this is for Ekiti land"? This is what makes Yorubas different other Southerners. Despite the fact that the Ondo man cannot understand what the Awori man says in Awori language or the Ijebu or Egbado, Yorubas still see each other as one. That is why an Ondo man can hold political office in Osun, an Ekiti man can hold political office in Oyo. This however doesn't mean that we don't have our differences, we have thousands of differences among ourselves

I don't give a damn about what yorubas think and feel , all I prayed for is members of the igboid race to invest in their home states , the era of investing elsewhere and attracting hostilities is gone.

InvertedHammer:

/

It is still far better than building churches and auditorium that add zero values to the system.

/

Exactly.

Focusmind:
Top notch skills acquisition center is more preferable to University. If you see the kind of skill centers in Germany, you will know that we are still far behind. He should commit that money to building of skills acquisition centers and partner with City & Guilds of London for conduct of tradesperson skills examinations. Skills acquisition and blue collar jobs should be emphasized more than university degrees that adds nothing to the economy.

More Nigerians need to start investing in skill acquisition centers in technical areas

E no get d money jooor. Who dash am such amount? Even dangote sef go shock

seborrhic:

Is it today you knew Nigerians like floating superfluous figures to feel big and important?
In Nigeria a goverment official will tell you we are a country of 300m people and that in next 5 years the economy will be bigger than that of China and US combined.
Where is Wigwe going to source for $500m (₦500b)within 5 years or people think he would conjure up that amount from his pocket?

Loans. According to a recent report, one of the top bank CEOs was allegedly found paying lower than normal interest rate on a loan he took from the bank. Dealings like these are how the rich keep their wealth and come back at you with motivation to "work hard".

kettykin:
Thank God everyone is now having a mindset if giving back to the society. I hope this investment is in ikwere land

everybody except apc demons

RenaissanceGuy:
Students that would graduate and start looking for paid jobs or the ones that will put what they studied in practice, creating jobs in the process, just as it's in developed countries?? What Nigeria needs is not more universities, it's aggressive industrialisation. In fact, let's even begin with the easiest—agricultural industrialization, which can turn Nigeria into a developed country within 25 years! Netherlands of 17m people makes about $79B yearly via agricultural export, that's aside the massive blue-collar millions of jobs provided to the citizens while Nigeria with so-called black gold makes meager $39B - approximately half of it. Do you think if Nigeria has a very organised national mechanised agriculture tens of millions of currently unemployed Nigerian graduates won't be working in those farms as agronomists, electrical and mechanical engineers, accountants, geneticists, animal nutritionists, IT experts, veterinarians, hydrologist, farm nurses and doctors, marine scientists, unlike the current system where the agricultural sector is handled by 90% old men and women using hoes and cutlass and who are majorly illiterates etc?? Even those who did not read agric-related courses will hop in, because of the avalanche of jobs in the sector. And the prosperity from that sector would then trickle down into other industrial sectors such as steel, shipbuilding, car, electronics manufacturing, etc. This is how countries such as the USA, China, Malaysia became what they are today!

Your insights here are hugely spot-on.
The low-hanging fruits and value-addition in the agribusiness chain are key in order for Nigeria to surpass the Netherlands which uses the latest modern research findings and technologies to leapfrog in the agribusiness chain.

Blitzking:
we av graduates who are unemployable..we need to revamp what is taught in schools.

it was intentional to create useless graduates.
Unn was banned from offering chemical engineering.
Why?
Because their students during the civil war were able to make use of what they were taught.
If you remember back in school (university)
Lecturers demand you give them back what they gave you during exam.
Otherwise you will rewrite the course.
Evil system

DaddyJapan:


$500 million university? Okay, I have a bridge that connects Nigeria to France to sell.

Oil dey your head

RenaissanceGuy:
Students that would graduate and start looking for paid jobs or the ones that will put what they studied in practice, creating jobs in the process, just as it's in developed countries?? What Nigeria needs is not more universities, it's aggressive industrialisation. In fact, let's even begin with the easiest—agricultural industrialization, which can turn Nigeria into a developed country within 25 years! Netherlands of 17m people makes about $79B yearly via agricultural export, that's aside the massive blue-collar millions of jobs provided to the citizens while Nigeria with so-called black gold makes meager $39B - approximately half of it. Do you think if Nigeria has a very organised national mechanised agriculture tens of millions of currently unemployed Nigerian graduates won't be working in those farms as agronomists, electrical and mechanical engineers, accountants, geneticists, animal nutritionists, IT experts, veterinarians, hydrologist, farm nurses and doctors, marine scientists, unlike the current system where the agricultural sector is handled by 90% old men and women using hoes and cutlass and who are majorly illiterates etc?? Even those who did not read agaric-related courses will hop in, because of the avalanche of jobs in the sector. And the prosperity from that sector would then trickle down into other industrial sectors such as steel, shipbuilding, car, electronics manufacturing, etc. This is how countries such as the USA, China, Malaysia became what they are today!

Agriculture is good for food security of a nation, but it can't give us all those amounts you are quoting.

A good govt supports the agriculture sector for food affordability and availability


It's just an exaggeration

You know how much oil and it's derivatives is giving this country in a month

tctrills:

No county ever became developed via agriculture. Not even one.

Fact!

Rivers state has coded business billionaires, politicians, artists and sports stars. It's not always about crude oil alone. Herbert Wigwe an Ikwerre man from Port Harcourt city

Kushites:


https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-11-11/banking-tycoon-wigwe-invests-in-new-500-million-university-in-nigeria