Building the African University of Science and Technology (Aust), Abuja For

This book is a report of the initiation and implementation of a development project for the African University of Science and Technology, Abuja, Nigeria, solely supported by African Development Bank. It can be regarded as a case study of which an in-depth and detailed examination of all events as reported will reveal for the benefit of readers, the shortcomings or excellence of the management of the events with respect to the overall realization of the defined project objectives cum outputs and outcomes. When I began writing this report, the intention was to document for AUST's reference purposes, all the events that took place during the project period as per the records kept during the implementation of the project. However, at a certain point, it became obvious that I would be doing a disservice to the financiers of the project, African Development Bank, professionals, vendors, students, donors and recipients of grants/loans from development agencies, if the opportunity the report presents for learning and improvement of relevant skills and systems was discarded. For this reason, the report was turned into a book giving full account of roles, successes and shortcomings of persons and entities involved in the initiative of the African Development Bank's support to African University of Science and Technology, Abuja, in building a place for science and technology excellence in the Sub-Saharan Africa region. In terms of scope, the book begins with introduction that gives a background and objectives of the project and proceeds with the outline of the outputs and outcomes of the project and then discusses the governance, administration and financial management of the project. The last and most detailed element of the report is the activity implementations that involve contract procurement and administration where applicable, internal processes and execution.

This book is a report of the initiation and implementation of a development project for the African University of Science and Technology, Abuja, Nigeria, solely supported by African Development Bank. It can be regarded as a case study of which an in-depth and detailed examination of all events as reported will reveal for the benefit of readers, the shortcomings or excellence of the management of the events with respect to the overall realization of the defined project objectives cum outputs and outcomes. When I began writing this report, the intention was to document for AUST's reference purposes, all the events that took place during the project period as per the records kept during the implementation of the project. However, at a certain point, it became obvious that I would be doing a disservice to the financiers of the project, African Development Bank, professionals, vendors, students, donors and recipients of grants/loans from development agencies, if the opportunity the report presents for learning and improvement of relevant skills and systems was discarded. For this reason, the report was turned into a book giving full account of roles, successes and shortcomings of persons and entities involved in the initiative of the African Development Bank's support to African University of Science and Technology, Abuja, in building a place for science and technology excellence in the Sub-Saharan Africa region. The events reported in the book are given in acknowledgement of the facts that; (1) they are the truth and not my making or opinion; and (2) the funds provided for the project are public funds and therefore require enough disclosure of the process, persons and entities involved in the use. In terms of scope, the book begins with introduction that gives a background and objectives of the project and proceeds with the outline of the outputs and outcomes of the project and then discusses the governance, administration and financial management of the project. The last and most detailed element of the report is the activity implementations that involve contract procurement and administration where applicable, internal processes and execution. The activities include for the goods category; the supply and installation of computer equipment, generators, laboratory equipment, a video conferencing center, a high-performance computer cluster; and the purchase of books and subscription to journals. The works category had only the construction of laboratory building, while the services category comprised the engagement of visiting faculty, scholarship awards, organization and attendance of workshops and conferences, partnerships with international institutions and private sector and project financial audits. Because of the diversity of the project, the stakeholders who in normal course of their functions are continually involved in different kinds of projects will identify, for improvement purposes in this book the relevance of mentioned documents, processes, action or inactions of persons or institutions involved under various circumstances as reported.

Mr. Onwuzuruigbo Osondu Joshua was born on 3rd October 1966 at Umuahia, Abia State of Nigeria. He attended Methodist College, Uzuakoli for his secondary education and later proceeded to the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) where he obtained a B.Sc. degree in Quantity Surveying in 1991. On completion of the mandatory National Youth Service, he joined a leading Consulting Firm in Nigeria, El-Rufai and Partners that was primarily engaged in Quantity Surveying and Project Management for building and civil engineering projects. He worked there until 1994 when he moved into Costain (West Africa) Plc, a British Building and Civil Engineering Contractor firm based in Nigeria. After serving as part of the Site Management Team for five years and having acquired experiences in both consultancy and construction, Mr. Onwuzuruigbo established a consulting firm, JO & C Partners Ltd in 1999 but had to suspend the firm when in 2004 at the instance of the then Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, he was invited to assist the administration in the implementation and monitoring of the FCT projects with annual turnover of about US$200 million. At the end of that administration in May 2007, Mr. Onwuzuruigbo got employed by the Nelson Mandela Institution (NMI), an international non-governmental organization that promotes the advancement of science and technology in Sub-Saharan Africa through the establishment of African Institutes of Science and Technology. Although he was primarily employed to focus on the start-up infrastructural development of the new African University of Science and Technology (AUST), Abuja, his responsibilities just after the University became operational in 2008 was diversified as such to include headship of the newly established Multilateral Projects Department of the University. This department is responsible for the coordination of activities and management of projects (infrastructure, research and training) supported by multilateral development agencies such as World Bank, African Development Bank, African Capacity Building Foundation, etc. To sharpen his skills, Mr. Onwuzuruigbo received training locally from KPMG of Britain and Lagos Business School among many other institutions; obtained a Post Graduate Diploma in Banking and Finance from the University of Abuja, an M.Sc. Degree in Finance from University of Leicester, England, and a Certificate of Completion for 'Innovation for Economic Development' Program of the Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Executive Education, USA. After ten years of working with NMI and AUST, Mr. Onwuzuruigbo was in January 2018 appointed as the Administrator of Regional Innovation and Scholarship Fund (RSIF), being hosted at Association of African Universities, Accra, Ghana and a flagship program of the Partnership for skills in Applied Sciences, Engineering and Technology (PASET), an African governments' initiative facilitated by the World Bank. He is a registered member of the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors and the Quantity Surveyors Registration Board of Nigeria, a body that grants license to practice quantity surveying in Nigeria and gladly, Mr. Onwuzuruigbo is married, has three children and above all is a Christian.