Oluchi Chibuzor
The Grooming Centre (GC) a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) offering technical and research assistance to Nigerian students has called for more applications for its yearly university grant that has seen over 393 winners benefit from the N500 million disbursed since inception in 2019.
The GC-University Grant Scheme is targeted at students in any tertiary institutions in Nigeria with scalable ideas for final year projects. It’s expected to reduce unemployment rate, deepen research and technical education in the country.
Speaking at the award ceremony for the winners of the 2023 GC University Grant, held in Lagos, the Founder, Grooming Centre, Dr. Godwin Nwabunka, said this year’s 139 awardees fell short of the expected yearly number of 150 winners.
He said GC-University Grant Scheme was targeted at tertiary institutions in Nigeria, adding that the organisation has spent over N500m in the bursary awards to winners and administration of both schemes.
“Though the 2023 number of winners still falls short of the annual target of 150 winners, when compared to the number of winners in 2019, it represents over 450 per cent increase.
“This is a result of increased awareness, communication and commitment from Grooming Centre. We hope that more Nigerian students will embrace the scheme as we have funds waiting for them to benefit from.
“The 2023 Grooming Centre University grant award is the fifth in the series of this noble scheme initiated and sponsored by Grooming Centre, as one of the Centre’s programmes which is aimed at contributing to educational development and poverty alleviation in Nigeria.
“The was envisioned by the Governing Council and Management of Grooming Centre to be a catalyst in research and knowledge development in areas social enterprise, microfinance, inclusive finance, poverty alleviation and rural development,” he added.
Represented by the Executive Director, GC, Alex Enyinnah, he noted that 139 winners were selected by the grant’s technical committee as winners after a meticulous review of over 340 project submissions.
“The 139 winners comprise 89 undergraduates and 50 postgraduates. There were also seven students amongst the 50 postgraduate winners. It is interesting to note that the GC-University Grant Scheme which started in 2019 with barely 25 winners from eight tertiary Institutions, has gradually and steadily grown to 139 winners from 50 tertiary institutions in 2023,” he noted.
