On February 21, 2020, President Dekle received a three-member delegation from the Northeast Humanitarian Innovation Hub. They include the Co-Founder & Head of Innovation, Mary Igbazua; Center Manager, Queen Dalughut, and Executive Assistant, Fatima Aminu.
Both Ms. Igbazua and Mrs. Dalughut are AUN alumnae who were staff members of AUN before they joined the organization. Ms. Igbazua said the courtesy visit was to see how to realign their organization's mission with that of the University as a higher education and center of development in the northeast "...because it was a conversation that we first started hearing at AUN and we are trying to pick up the conversation back with AUN and see how the Humanitarian Innovation Hub can continue to work with AUN…to promote social innovation across the region."
Ms. Igbazua briefed Dr. Dekle about the initial concept of the Hub, maintaining that it was originally designed to collaborate with AUN. Six innovation hubs were conceived to be established in each of Nigeria's six geo-political zones by the federal government. "We want to be very much aligned with higher education providers. That was the entire vision for it. In Lagos, the Hub there is a partnership with the Pan African University, (former Lagos Business School)."
The Vice President for Finance & Administration Olanipekun Olaranwaju praised the team for its work. He remarked that the hub will help people who are good at formulating ideas and coming out with innovative products, yet do not know how to take that process to monetize and sustain it. "We need this aspect of enterprise in society because people will come up with ideas."
Reported by Omorogbe Omorogiuwa