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As part of its social intervention efforts on education in Nigeria, Grooming Centre, a microfinance institution, has given out a total sum of N18 million as research grants to a total of 60 undergraduate and 60 postgraduate final-year students from across 47 public and private universities and polytechnics in the country.
The money was given to them on Thursday, December 8, at the award ceremony held at the corporate headquarters of the organisation in Lagos.
While each of the postgraduate students received a sum of N200,000, their undergraduate counterparts received N100,000 each.
Speaking at the event, the Head of Project, Grooming Centre Nigeria, Mr Egulefu Chikezie, explained that the annual non-refundable grant and this year’s edition fourth in the series is part of the corporate social responsibility initiatives of the bank on education to encourage and boost evidence-based research activities and knowledge among tertiary school students in critical economic areas that include microfinance, rural development, inclusive finance, social enterprise, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), technological development, women in development and other areas that aimed at lifting people out of poverty.
He said the bank, which also gives scholarship grants to no fewer than 500 children of its customers, who are in senior secondary schools on yearly basis believes that so many university students in the country would want to carry out research works on problems-solved issues that are impactful to the economy but have no money, hence the purpose of the research grants to support them.
Chikezie said the gesture is an annual event with the centre targeting an increasing number of beneficiaries and the value of the research grants but could not get enough suitable applicants to benefit on yearly basis.
He said even this year, 150 students were targeted for the grants but only 120 out of about 350 applicants were successful.
He emphasised that the winning research projects with the grants being managed by the Centre for Research in Enterprise and Action in Management (CREM) are focused on issues relevant to the Nigerian context, practical, innovative and capable of promoting any of the critical economic areas of interest in the Nigerian space.
He said all the applications were evaluated by an independent panel of jurists, making the entire selection process open, fair and transparent.
He said what concerns the centre is for beneficiaries of the grants to create wealth with their projects and impact society and not about their schools, religion or states of origin.
In his own remark, the CEO founder, Grooming Centre, Dr Godwin Nwabunka, said that Nigeria is a large market with many business opportunities, but only those with entrepreneurial and creative spirit could provide the products and services capable of satisfying the people’s needs to maximise profit and better the society.
He said the centre is interested to help the youths who are innovative and thinkers to create wealth and attain financial freedom and even become employers of labour rather than job seekers upon graduation.
He said many youths are out there that need only a small push to come out of poverty and that is why Grooming Centre is ready to support such individual students through the research grants.
He promised that the centre would continue to render such support to deserving students.
Delivering a lecture at the event, a keynote speaker, Prof Bongo Adi, from the Lagos Business School, Lekki, re-echoed that it is only through meaningful research that Nigeria and its people can truly progress and become a force to reckon with globally.
According to him, all industrial revolutions that have taken place, particularly in the western world were through research and inventions and Nigeria cannot do differently if truly wants to become powerful economically.
He commended the beneficiaries of the grants, saying coming up with winning projects is an indication that they will add great value to the Nigerian economy.
Speaking with Tribune Online, some of the beneficiaries revealed that the grants are a great relief to them and their parents.
For example, one of them, Mr Adesanmi Ogunsakin, 29, a mechanical engineering postgraduate student at the University of Lagos(UNILAG) said he had almost lost hope of getting money to execute his project when he was informed by his project supervisor about the research grant and encouraged him to apply.
“If not the grant, I would most likely delay the project for another year as my parents had already told me they didn’t have money to give me for the project,” he said.
Ogunsakin’s research project is on a machine to recycle waste plastics and nylons for industrial use.
He said he was convinced that the project would be a goldmine for him once completed even though he would still need more funds to enable him to put it into commercial use.
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120 Nigerian university, polytechnic students get N18m research grants from Grooming Centre
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