Governance and Policy Analysis (GPAC²) Postgraduate Fellowship named after Alex Ekwueme; Dr. Joe Abah comments on his Alma mater's programme...

First elected Vice-President of Nigeria, Alex Ekwueme  

A new postgraduate fellowship for Nigerians under the age of 40 is now available for the ‘Dual Career Training Programme to obtain a PhD in Governance and Policy Analysis’ (GPAC²).

The Alex Ekwueme Fellowship, named after the first elected Vice-President of Nigeria, will be offered every two years from March 2016 and  is aimed at shaping and empowering the next generation of Nigerian leaders.

The programme will be taught in the stimulating research community of the Maastricht Graduate School of Governance and the United Nations University, UNU-MERIT, based at Maastricht University in the Netherlands.

Dr. Joe Abah, a Nigerian civil servant who graduated in 2012, says: “The GPAC² programme offered me world class, cutting-edge research skills, delivered in a rigorous but flexible way. Since completing the programme I have moved on to higher responsibilities twice in the last three years, including being head-hunted to be the Director General of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms in the Presidency in Nigeria, a position that I still hold.”

The Alex Ekwueme Fellowship, he said, would mean that Nigerian scholars who already have practical experience could complement it with academic rigour in areas that are important for Nigeria’s development.

  “The GPAC² programme meets the needs of researchers with full- or part-time jobs, allowing them to combine their careers with obtaining a PhD. It also provides advanced training in the skills and theory crucial to policy analysis and design, with lectures given by top scholars in the field of policy analysis and related areas including governance, migration, sustainable development and social protection.”

According to Dr. Mindel van de Laar, the PhD programme director, “The programme is taught entirely in English and consists of a common first year of three training workshops (two weeks each time), followed by two research workshops per year in subsequent years (one week each time).

To be eligible for the fellowship, she said, “prospective Ekwueme fellows must be citizens of Nigeria under the age of 40 and should have a Master’s degree, a strong academic record, professional and/or volunteer experience, an affinity with academic research, and a clear interest in policy analysis.

Ideally, the candidate’s employer will offer support, by for example, providing data, related assignments and the like”.

Applications are handled through the website of the Maastricht Graduate School of Governance and the next application deadline is 15 October 2015.

Culled from The Nation.