The Federal Government has partnered with the Nigeria Higher Education Foundation (NHEF) to roll out a national workshop aimed at building professional advancement structures across the country's federal universities. The NHEF University Advancement Programme (NUAP) Workshop brought together representatives from federal universities nationwide for what organisers described as an intensive and practical learning experience.

Dr Anastesia Okaomee, Executive Director of the University Advancement Programme at NHEF, disclosed this while flagging off the programme in Lagos. She explained that the workshop is meant to professionalise alumni relations, fundraising, and broader advancement functions within Nigerian universities.

According to Okaomee, the foundation is focused on building capacities from the ground up. "What we are doing now is building capacities. We are starting with the foundation of advancement training," she stated. She added that strengthening the skills of fundraising and alumni relations professionals, alongside marketing and communication specialists, would help institutions raise funds and build stronger ties with their alumni.

She noted that weak alumni investment remains a persistent gap in most Nigerian institutions, and addressing this is central to the programme's goals.

"By achieving that, we can, in the long run, improve alumni engagement in the institutions and the level of relations and financial support that will begin to come into the institutions," Okaomee revealed. She added that the broader objective is financial sustainability for universities that does not depend solely on government subsidies.

The initiative forms part of wider national efforts under the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Maruf Alausa, to strengthen the sustainability, resilience, and global competitiveness of Nigeria's higher education sector. The workshop's organisers positioned it as a foundational step, with plans to expand capacity building across fundraising, communications, and alumni engagement functions in subsequent phases.

Officials maintain that stronger advancement structures will reduce universities' overreliance on government funding while opening new channels of financial support driven by alumni and institutional relationships.