KARACHI: Seasoned cricketer Shahid Afridi visited Karachi University (KU) on Monday and signed a contract on behalf of his non-governmental organisation (NGO) with the university’s mass communication department to help it in its renovation.

“It’s indeed an honour for me to visit the University of Karachi, one of the best educational institutions in the country. Students, I believe, are the country’s future and rightly deserved to be provided with sound academic environment,” Afridi said in his brief remarks at a ceremony held to inaugurate the renovated building of the mass communication department.

The foundation (named after him) would also provide state-of-the-art media equipment to the department, he said, expressing the desire to build a ‘Boom Boom’ cricket stadium on the KU campus.

KU Vice Chancellor Prof Mohammad Ajmal Khan thanked Afridi for his assistance and said he was one of the greatest superstars that the country had ever produced.

“You have a huge fan following the world over. We are hugely indebted for your help and support to the university,” he said.

Investment in education, he said, was vital to build the nation. “A society unable to produce scholars, scientists and intellectuals can never progress. My ultimate objective as the vice chancellor is to make KU one of the leading universities of the world. Development of universities will strengthen our country,” he said.

Mass communication department chairperson Prof Seemi Naghmana Tahir also thanked Afridi for extending assistance to the department.

“Our basic aim is to provide state-of-the-art infrastructure and learning facilities to our students who one day would play their due role in the media industry,” she said while appreciating the efforts of visiting faculty member Tahira Tariq in securing the partnership with Afridi’s foundation.

Dr Osama Shafiq spoke about the changes being introduced to improve and update the department curriculum.

Published in Dawn January 31st, 2017