The Wunti Al-Khair Foundation, under the leadership of its Chairman, Dr. Bala Wunti, has formally begun delivering the Bala Wunti Arena at Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University. The four-storey, 10,000-seat multi-purpose indoor sports complex and civic centre will host convocations, major athletic competitions, cultural events and university assemblies to international standards.
Instead of handing the project to commercial contractors, the Foundation put ATBU’s students at the heart of it. Students in architecture, engineering and environmental disciplines were challenged to design and pitch the arena themselves.
“This is a product of ATBU, built for ATBU, and to be done by ATBU. If this is what ATBU wants for themselves, our duty is simply to provide the backing to actualize their dream. By the grace of Allah, this project is as good as built. We will deliver it on-spec, at the right quality, and on time.”
— Dr. Bala Wunti
Eleven teams presented sustainable visions for the arena. Before an expert panel, they defended passive climate design, rapid emergency evacuation routes and integrated renewable utilities. Every finalist team walked away funded:
🥇 Team W-Nexus: ₦5,000,000
🥈 Team Spatial Mind: ₦4,000,000
🥉 Team Spatial Nexus: ₦3,000,000
🎖️ Finalists (4th–11th): ₦1,000,000 each
👏 Technical Review Panel: ₦3,000,000 honorarium
That’s ₦20 million invested directly in student innovation.
“Buildings age. Equipment wears out. But a well-trained young person grows in value every year of their life. The arena is the gift. But the chance you were given to design it, to be judged on it, and to see your ideas taken seriously, is part of the gift too.”
— Ango Mustapha, Director of Programs, WAKF
Our deep appreciation goes to the university leadership, the panelists, the organisers and every brilliant mind that pitched.
