United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc has deepened its longstanding relationship with the academic community and reaffirmed its commitment to innovation, youth empowerment, and nation-building by commissioning the UBA Innovation Hub and Business Office at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) in Lagos State.
The facility was commissioned by the UBA Group Chairman, Tony Elumelu, represented by Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Oliver Alawuba, alongside other senior executives of the bank and members of the UNILAG leadership, led by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Folasade Ogunsola.
Elumelu, who is an alumnus of UNILAG, described the commissioning as both symbolic and strategic.
“Returning to my alma mater for this commissioning makes this moment particularly meaningful. Universities remain the birthplace of ideas, innovation, and future leadership. Through this investment, UBA is reaffirming its belief in young people and in the role institutions like the University of Lagos will continue to play in shaping Africa’s future,” he stated.
He added that UBA’s philosophy of empowering people and building institutions remains central to its growth agenda across Africa.
Also speaking, Alawuba noted that the innovation hub and business office represent an intentional investment in talent, enterprise, and future economic transformation.
“UBA continues to create platforms that connect knowledge with opportunity. This facility will provide students and the university community access to ideas, networks, innovation support, and financial services that help unlock potential and prepare future leaders for a rapidly changing world,” he said.
Alawuba stressed that the UBA Professorial Chair remains the bank’s most enduring academic contribution.
Alawuba said: “Our most enduring academic contribution remains the UBA Professorial Chair of Finance, established in January 1972 as the first-ever Finance Professorial Chair in a Nigerian university. It was designed to strengthen finance education, deepen banking research, and support thought leadership in Nigeria’s financial sector.
“I am pleased that the Executive Management of UBA has approved an additional N61.67 million to further strengthen the Endowment Fund for the Chair and sustain its work through the current professorship tenure.”
Students unveil AI solutions at DeepFunding hackathon finale
Ogunsola, who emphasised that Elumelu remains “a son of the university”, commended UBA for sustaining a relationship built on impact, innovation, and institutional support.
“The intellectual rigour, the ambition, and the broadness of vision that he (Elumelu) would go on to demonstrate as he transformed a struggling bank into a pan-African institution of global stature, that fire was sharpened here,” she added.
The newly commissioned four-floor complex, according to the bank, was designed as a shared platform that promotes collaboration between academia and industry.
Under the arrangement, UBA will operate its dedicated business office within the facility, providing direct access to innovative banking services, financial advisory services, enterprise support, and engagement opportunities for students, faculty, and the wider university community. The remaining floors of the complex will serve broader institutional and developmental purposes for the university’s use.
The bank added that the commissioning marks another defining chapter in the enduring relationship between UBA and one of Nigeria’s foremost institutions of higher learning.
It noted that the project also reflects the bank’s historic connection with UNILAG and Nigeria’s education ecosystem.
In another major highlight of the event, the university management announced the renewal of UBA’s sponsorship and support for the Professorial Chair in Finance, further strengthening collaboration between academia and industry and advancing thought leadership, research, and professional excellence in financial studies.
UBA was the first bank to establish a campus branch in Nigeria in the 1960s, pioneering financial inclusion and institutional banking support within the nation’s higher education environment.
- Oil prices rise as US military resumes attacks on Iran - May 26, 2026
- Stock market investors gain N905bn amid bullish rally - May 26, 2026
- UBA unveils innovation hub, business office at UNILAG - May 26, 2026
