Scholars programme holds in five varsities

Following a successful completion of the Sahel Scholars’ Programme (SASP) in 2018 in three prestigious Nigerian universities, the programme has been extended to five Nigerian Universities.

The schools are Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike (MOUAU), Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria (ABU), and Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife (OAU).

Sahel partnered with the faculties of agriculture in the five universities for the agribusiness conferences. They also engaged top performing students in their penultimate year for internship, mentorship and scholarship awards.

The conference themed, “Feeding Millions, Making Billions: the Opportunities for an Agripreneur,” was focused on sharing deep insights about the opportunities that exist in agribusiness, leveraging the success stories of agripreneurs in the landscape to inspire the students, highlighting the gaps that exist in the sector and the potential roles of youth across the value chain.

Professors in the faculties of Agriculture in the schools and key players in the agribusiness landscape participated in the conferences where over 1,200 students were in attendance.

Some of the guest speakers are Head of Marketing at FarmCrowdy Nigeria, Mr. Tomiwa Ogunmodede; CEO of Zaidi Farms Limited, Mr. Idi Mukhtar Maiha; CEO of FaLGates, Mr. Sadiq Abubakar Falalu; CEO of Coscharis Farms, Mr. Godwin Umeaka; and Co-founder of PS Nutrac, Mr. Samson Ogbole,.

The speakers in their respective remarks shared deep insights on their experiences in agriculture and highlighted the opportunities that exist for students in the agricultural sector.

The Sahel team shared industry knowledge and facilitated panel discussions on key strategies critical to transforming the educational system in Nigerian universities to inspire and equip undergraduates with the right skills to become successful players in the industry.

Also, young professionals at Sahel who are OAU and ABU alumni shared their Sahel experiences with the students.

Dean of Post Graduate School, Prof. Udo Herbert, in his speech at MOUAU, appreciated Sahel for giving the students the opportunity to participate in the conference. He explained that the SASP conference was the first of its kind in the university and it was a gift to the students.

The students were inspired as they engaged the SASP team with agribusiness-related questions, discussed their perception of the agriculture sector and shared their challenges as undergraduates in the Faculty of Agriculture. Sahel also held on-campus interviews with the students shortlisted for internship and scholarships. It was a worthwhile experience for the participants, the guest speakers and for Sahel.

In the coming weeks, selected scholars will be invited to Sahel’s head office in Lagos for their one-month internship, mentorship and scholarship programme.