The March 8th Initiative: Friends of Prof announces plans to honour Osinbajo with entrepreneurial, education funding project
By ZIKA MOMOH
For the third year running, friends of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo with the tag: ‘Friends of Prof’ will honour his March 8th birthday with projects aimed at inspiring and promoting communal, entrepreneurial, and public-spirited endeavour within Nigeria, goals that the Vice President himself has faithfully pursued in his illustrious public service career.
The Friends of Prof formed the March 8th Initiative as the organising body of the activities and have in the last two years made contributions that aided the growth and advancement of businesses across the country, while also offering crucial medical lifelines to thousands of Nigerians in need of eye treatment, surgeries and other procedures that are key to their ability to lead healthy lives.
A statement signed by the Project Coordinator, Mr. Nduka Enweliku said: “Last year, the Friends of Prof, under the March 8th Initiative, identified and honoured health workers who, according to the Initiative, “exhibited compassion, diligence, hard work and professionalism in carrying out their duties” in an extremely difficult time occasioned by the pandemic. Thirty Four Health workers from across the country got a grant of N1 Million each.
This year’s edition will focus on entrepreneurship and education with a project titled ‘Project 774’ designed to unearth promising and young entrepreneurs in all parts of the country for funding and promotion.
Staging a community focused Business Plan Competition, the initiative will task youths – all between the ages of 18 and 35 – on identifying the peculiar advantages of their resident LGAs and to present a clear proposal on business strategies to leverage the advantages and spark widespread growth.
Two winners from each LGA will win a grant of N100,000 to implement the ideas, a unique opportunity, perhaps the first of its kind, that promotes civic responsibility and an innovative approach to problem-solving, particularly at the local level.
Starting on the 8th of March until the 30th of March, applications are to be submitted on a dedicated website – www.march8th.ng – which contains other relevant details on the competition.
Meanwhile, for its education and classroom project, the initiative has secured a partnership with leading Edutech and learning solutions company, Codextel Limited, to deploy its revolutionary product, ‘The Codex Learning Solution’, for the delivery of free, tailor-made, curriculum-based lessons on major subjects, including English and Mathematics, to school children across the country.
Explaining the project, the March 8th Initiative said that “each lesson has been carefully developed in a complete video with an animated instructor, brainteasers, new vocabulary, and memory tag” and will cover topics for each term of study.
It is a bold idea aimed at guaranteeing equitable access to quality education across the country, with particular attention to geographical peculiarities and the observed digital divide.
For instance, in the North, the project will feature a localized Hausa version, Makaranta, for faster and wider adoption. This is alongside the broadcast of lessons on terrestrial stations for easy access in homes and remote villages.
