The Vice Chancellor of the University of Uyo, Professor Chris Ekong, has warned that capital budgets allocated to Nigerian public universities have fallen below 10% of operational requirements over the past four years, while federal officials continue to demand 25% of institutions' internally generated revenue annually.

Ekong raised the alarm at the University of Uyo Alumni Association's first anniversary lecture and the official handover of the renovated 550 capacity ELF Lecture Theatre on Friday. The event, themed "From Great Minds to Great Impact," was held at the university's main campus on Nwaniba Road.

"It's disappointing that Nigerian universities are still not being well funded. The capital budget for the past four years given to universities is less than 10%. The universities have no money, but federal officials are coming every year to collect 25% of the internally generated revenue and if you don't give they will charge from your personnel budget, the budget you should have used in paying. That is the situation that we are in; God will help us," Ekong said.

The Vice Chancellor called on the Alumni Association to help bridge the funding gap and announced plans to include the body in his Advisory Committee.

"The universities are so poor, we want the Alumni to help us. I want to thank the Association for taking positive steps towards the provision of this recovered edifice. I said I'm going to invite the Alumni into my Advisory Committee, so you can know what we are doing with the money we collect on your behalf, know what we are doing with intellectual property because it's your university," he said.

Alumni Association President Ekerete Adiaiduo outlined interventions the body had already undertaken, including resolving a transcript issuance crisis that had left students and graduates in prolonged uncertainty, and donating a generating set to restore power supply to the Examinations and Records Unit.

"Power supply to the Examinations and Records Unit had become so erratic that operations were near paralysed. We acted. Alumni who needed their credentials to pursue opportunities abroad could breathe again," Adiaiduo said, adding that outreach to UniUyo alumni in the diaspora was underway to channel their expertise and networks towards institutional development.

Keynote speaker and former Deputy Vice Chancellor of the University of Abuja, Professor Philip Afaha, warned alumni associations against converting their platforms into vehicles for extracting contracts, employment and admission opportunities from university management.

"The Alumni Association's role is to attract development to the university through scholarship, grants, endowment, infrastructure, research support, and not an empowerment platform for former students," Afaha said.