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By Gabriel Dike
The management of Grooming Centre, Ejigbo, Lagos, has splashed N20 million university grants on 150 undergraduate and postgraduate students from different tertiary institutions in the country.
The cheques were presented to winners at the award ceremony during the sixth edition of the 2024 Grooming Centre University Grant, as part of its intervention in tertiary research.
A breakdown of the winners showed that 100 grants went to undergraduate students and 50 to postgraduate students, out of which four were PhD holders.
Chairman of the Grooming Centre, Dr. Godwin Nwabunka, said the 2024 university grant award attracted students from 55 institutions, adding, “The awards are for 150 students. It has grown from a modest level six years ago to a bigger project.”
He hoped the research of the winners would lead to fruitful outcomes and help to solve societal problems.
“This is the first time in the history of the research grant we are meeting the target of 150 student awardees. This year, we reached out to more tertiary institutions.
“Beyond the award, we intend to monitor them to ensure they come out with products and also help them to get approval for patents. One of the aims of a university is to focus on research and innovation,” Nwabunka noted.
A member of the technical committee, Dr. Abraham Okpe, said 513 applications were received and screened to 390, after incomplete applications and plagiarised ones were eliminated.
He added: “Additionally, 55 institutions, which cut across 24 federal institutions, made up of universities, polytechnics and colleges of education, and 21 states-owned institutions and 10 private-owned institutions.”
Okpe explained that a marking guide/template was developed to guide markers. A set of 10 indicators makes up the marking template such as research and thematic areas, contextual relevance, originality, data-driven result, sustainable and socio-economic development.
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He recalled that when the scheme started in 2019, out of the expected 150 beneficiaries, 25 students were awarded the grant, 41 in 2020, 68 in 2021, 120 in 2022 and 139 in 2023.
In his remarks, Head of Special Project, Grooming Centre, Mr. Chikezie Egulefu, restated that the 2024 edition of the research grant is the highest since the project started in 2019.
According to him, 11 PhD holders have received the research grant since the inception and expect more in subsequent editions.
Egulefu tasked the winners to take their research to the next level and assured that the centre would continue to promote research and innovation to find solutions to some societal challenges confronting the country.
The guest speaker, Prof. Adedeji Oyenuga of the Department of Sociology, Lagos State University, commended the centre for promoting research and innovation among students from tertiary institutions.
“Grooming Centre is an academic centre targeted at young people to carry out research on social issues. This approach is commendable.
One of the winners, Boluwatife Odusanya, a 400 level Economics student of Lagos State University, told The Daily Sun that it took her three months to come out with the research project.
Odusanya gave the title of her research as “Determinant of Financial Inclusion among Women-led in Yaba, Lagos”. She intends to use the money to further carry out research in the area.
Another winner, Grace Obuoro, HND Computer Science student from Federal Polytechnic Ilaro, said she developed an App that would help farmers seek information on how to get better feeds and other needed poultry items.
Obuoro revealed that it took her eight months to come with the App and would use the grant to secure patent and make the App a reality. She said her research is titled: “Implementation of Chatbot System for Poultry Farmers.”
