Godfrey Okoye University, Enugu, has been awarded a N90 million grant by the German Academic Exchange Service to promote sustainable entrepreneurship.
German Academic Exchange Service is an organization that supports international academic collaboration by providing funding and resources to students, researchers, and educational institutions.
Rev. Fr. Christian Anieke, the Vice Chancellor of the university, announced the grant during the institution’s 12th convocation ceremony explaining that the initiative focuses on introducing sustainable entrepreneurship courses in collaboration with international institutions.
“The project focuses on introducing sustainable entrepreneurship courses and will be executed in collaboration with Leuphana University, Mount Kenya University, and the University of Venda, South Africa,” Anieke stated.
The funding would facilitate a research and teaching project spanning 2024 to 2027.
Complementary Student Empowerment Initiatives
In addition to the N90 million grant, Godfrey Okoye University secured an additional €12,000 for the Student Training for Entrepreneurship Promotion project. The university’s Directorate of Entrepreneurship(DOE) has also introduced an incubation hub to support the training and development of entrepreneurial ventures
“Under this project, students and teachers from our Faculty of Education and the Institute of Ecumenical Education have been mobilised with N8 million as seed fund for their STEP Micro business while N7 million was earmarked as payment for faculty members inducted as STEP-trainers.
“The establishment of STEP has been an incredibly enriching experience for both staff and students. The DOE has added an innovative project, incubation hub to promote our STEP programme,” Anieke said.
What you should know
The Federal Government has said that federal universities and research institutions are no longer required to deposit third-party research grant funds into the Treasury Single Account (TSA), which is the central account used by the government to manage its finances as of September 6, 2024
- Essentially, it gives universities more financial independence by allowing them to manage their research funds and endowment accounts directly with commercial banks.
- The hope is that by easing these financial restrictions, universities and research institutions will be able to enhance their capacity to carry out more impactful research and development projects, driving progress in education and innovation across the country.
- Godfrey Okoye University (GOUNI) in Enugu has mandated that starting from the 2025-2026 academic session, all lecturers must have a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) to be eligible for teaching positions.
The university’s Vice Chancellor, Prof. Christian Anieke explained that this aligns with the National Universities Commission’s guidelines and aims to raise academic standards at the university.