US offers grants to alumni in Nigeria

By Simon Ateba

‎The United States government has created innovation funds and grants to support projects by its exchange programme alumni in Nigeria, a senior official said at the weekend.

Alumni, in this case, are Nigerians who were sent to the United States ‎over the years by the American government for training in various areas of leadership.

“I would like to take this opportunity to encourage you to use today’s networking opportunity as a time to put your heads together and come up with proposals that can be submitted to the Alumni ‎Office for funding,” Jeffrey Hawkins, the United States Consul General in Lagos said at an alumni reception sponsored by the Mission.

To qualify for funding, Hawkins said, candidates would have to be registered on the Alumni Website.

Currently, he added, there are nearly 4,000 exchange programme alumni in Nigeria who are prepared for leadership positions.

Hawkins urged alumni to give back to their ‎communities what they had learnt in the United States, especially in the area of youth empowerment, democracy, human rights, entrepreneurship, life skills, education and public health.

The alumni, Hawkins said, personify the “true spirit of the educational and cultural exchange programmes sponsored by the US Government”.

He encouraged them to ‎use their influence to advocate for a free, fair, credible and peaceful election in Nigeria next year that will reflect the will of the electorate.

“The United States will continue to support Nigeria’s efforts to govern justly and democratically through partnerships with institutions and individuals,” he said.

The diplomat also encouraged Nigerians to apply for the Young African Leaders Initiative, YALI. The application process starts ‎on 7 October and ends on 5 November.

Last year, thousands of Nigerians applied but only dozens were selected and taken to America for leadership trainings. They also met with President Barack Obama in Washington.