Enugu govt partners Oxford University on students’ mentorship

Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State

(Nigeria) The administration of Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State, through the State Scholarship and Education Loans Board, ESSELB, in partnership with Oxford University (African Society), has unveiled an innovative platform, known as The Coal City Fellowship, to enable desirable young minds in the state to harness their intellectual potentials and achieve their life aspirations.

Unveiling the flagship edition of the Coal City Fellowship, the Executive Secretary of ESSELB, Uche Abonyi, in a joint statement with Nwangele Chukwuemeka of Oxford University (African Society), disclosed that the novel mentorship programme in Enugu State, was as a result of the premium the state government placed on quality education.

They explained that the programme “is an exclusive student fellowship that will absorb and work with the most driven young minds from the South-Eastern region of Nigeria, providing them with information, mentorship, financial and all-around support to take their careers to the next level”.

The statement added that the Fellowship will arm the potential fellows with “T.G.I.'s five spokes of excellence: having a big picture, building yourself, creating social impact, building relationships, and being approachable”.

It disclosed that the above concepts would reflect all through the Fellowship and discussions to achieve and provide access to information required for academic success, stressing that the innovative programme “recognizes the need to help bright young minds develop because it is crucial to unlocking their potentials.”

According to the statement, the Fellowship, in line with its objective, will create an enabling environment for students to gain quality education at any world-class university, adding: “Coal City fellows will have full access to information on globally available academic opportunities.

“We will provide world-class mentorship within students' areas of interest to help them visualize success in their fields and give them the extra nudge to succeed”.

It revealed that the mentorship will take different forms and involve virtual platforms such as emails, audio, and video calls, provide fellows with information about opportunities in schools, such as scholarships, research, and social enterprise grants, and encourage them to utilize the opportunities.

Announcing that the Fellowship application has commenced on Sunday, April 25, 2021, via: https://coalcityfellowship.esselb.en.gov.ng/login.php, to end on May 25, 2021, the statement advised indigenes of Enugu State in their penultimate year of undergraduate studies in a recognized Nigerian University, to utilize “this opportunity and apply to be part of this unique community of thought leaders, academics, and system innovators”.

The statement reads: “Given the prioritization of quality education in Enugu State, the administration of Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, through the Enugu State Scholarship and Education Loans Board (ESSELB) brings you the flagship edition of the Coal City Fellowship.

“The Coal City Fellowship is an exclusive student fellowship that will absorb and work with the most driven young minds from the south-eastern region of Nigeria, providing them with information, mentorship, financial and all-around support to take their careers to the next level.

“We will target these values to aid fellows to harness their intellectual potential and achieve their life aspirations.

“Aim of the program: Joining the Fellowship will arm you with T.G.I.'s five spokes of excellence: having a big picture, building yourself, creating social impact, building relationships, and being approachable.

“These concepts would reflect all through the Fellowship and discussions to achieve the following: Provide access to information required for academic success. The Fellowship recognizes the need to help bright young minds develop because it is crucial to unlocking their potentials.

“In line with this objective, the Fellowship will create an enabling environment for students to gain quality education at any world-class university.

“Coal City fellows will have full access to information on globally available academic opportunities.

“Provide mentorship for selected students: We will provide world-class mentorship within students' areas of interest to help them visualize success in their fields and give them the extra nudge to succeed.

“Our mentorship will take on different forms and involve virtual platforms such as emails, audio, and video calls.

“Guide students through application rounds: The Fellowship aims to take a straightforward and practical approach to solve human capacity development challenges in Africa. It will provide fellows with information about opportunities in schools, such as scholarships, research, and social enterprise grants; it will also encourage students to utilize these opportunities.

“Furthermore, the Fellowship will provide a personalized and practical guide through the whole application process and provide hints on the requirements at each stage of the process and each student's expectations.

“Refine students and guide them to participate in social change activities: This process is necessary because the students' growth process requires early human capacity development. Because solving Nigeria's challenges requires young people with leadership potential and commitment to community service, we have made leadership and community service paramount to our operations. This tailored curriculum will enable students to contribute to making their immediate society a better place.

“Promotion of peer-to-peer mentoring: This Fellowship is designed to be long-lasting. Thus, we will incorporate peer-to-peer mentoring where senior fellows can practice what they have learned by mentoring junior fellows.  Our methodology will help consolidate the concepts and ideas learned during this Fellowship and facilitate a faster learning process.

“The program will also provide insightful training and commensurate mentorship on innovation, which can spin off to creative solutions to Nigerian techno-economic challenges. The mentors will also bolster socially impactful projects ranging from education support to healthcare improvement and community welfare projects to give our fellows added advantage in future application projects while strategically positioning them to harness opportunities.

“Application process: If you are from Enugu State and in your penultimate year of undergraduate studies in a recognized Nigerian University, jump on this opportunity and apply to be part of this unique community of thought leaders, academics, and system innovators. The Fellowship will give preference to academic high fliers with CGPAs in the higher 2:1 or 1st class range (or equivalent).

“The Fellowship application will kickstart on April 25, 2021, and run through for one month to May 25, 2021.

“To apply, visit Enugu State Scholarship Board, and on the top menu, click on applications, and then Coal City Fellowship, and follow the prompts. You can also visit Registration system PHP and MySQL (en.gov.ng) (https://coalcityfellowship.esselb.en.gov.ng/login.php) to sign up and complete the application process. 

“After your application is received, you will receive a notification from our team. The selection process will take place within two weeks of application closure, and the successful fellows will be announced in all relevant social, electronic and print media.

“We look forward to seeing your beautiful essays detailing your motivations and giving us an idea of how we can collaborate to build you and simultaneously improve Enugu State and Nigeria in general.

“To get the latest information on the Fellowship and other scholarship opportunities, download the Enugu Scholarship Access App on your iOS or Android devices.”