Retired Lieutenant General and former Chief of Army Staff, Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma, will lead prominent Nigerians in raising N5 billion to rehabilitate Government College Katsina-Ala in Benue State.

The Katsina-Ala Old Boys Association (KAOBA), which is organising the fundraising, said the event would hold on October 19 at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja.

The initiative seeks to restore the 111-year-old institution, founded in 1915, after years of infrastructural decay. The association hopes to mobilise funds to improve its facilities and restore its standing as a centre of academic excellence.

KAOBA has invited governors of states that historically formed part of the school’s catchment area, as well as prominent individuals and traditional rulers whose families have longstanding ties to the institution.

The governors expected at the event include Hyacinth Alia of Benue, Agbu Kefas of Taraba, Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa, Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau, Ahmed Usman Ododo of Kogi and Bassey Otu of Cross River.

National President of KAOBA, Chief Anthony Adda, announced the initiative in Abuja. He said the association decided to mobilise support after repeated efforts to secure government intervention yielded little progress.

Adda explained that the alumni could no longer watch the school deteriorate while waiting for the authorities responsible for its maintenance to act.

He cited Danjuma’s contribution to the school as an example of the impact former students could make. According to him, the retired general renovated all five hostels about three years ago.

“General TY Danjuma has been intervening in that school. He renovated all the five hostels there, and they are beautiful now,” Adda said.

However, he lamented that several classroom blocks remained in poor condition, despite the improvements to the hostels.

“When you look at the classrooms, some of the structures we used when I entered Form One in 1967 are still there. Nobody has touched them,” he said.

Adda said Danjuma’s intervention should encourage younger alumni and other well-meaning Nigerians to contribute to the institution’s revival.

The KAOBA president, who enrolled at the college in 1967, said the association’s immediate objective was to prevent further deterioration and preserve the school’s legacy.

“The essence of what we are doing is to intervene so that the school will not die. It appears there has been a lot of negligence on the part of whoever is supposed to take care of the school,” he said.

Although the college belongs to the Benue State Government, Adda argued that its ownership should not prevent former students from supporting its rehabilitation.

He also raised concerns about alleged encroachment on the school’s land and the sale of some staff quarters by previous administrations.

According to him, the association had approached former Governor Samuel Ortom over the alleged encroachment. Ortom subsequently established a committee to identify the affected portions of the land.

Adda said the former governor directed that those who had acquired parts of the land should receive refunds and vacate the property.

However, he said the association was still seeking similar intervention from the current administration to resolve the outstanding land issues.

The October 19 fundraising is expected to bring together alumni, public officials and other stakeholders to mobilise resources for the rehabilitation of the historic college.