PROGRAMS AND EVENTS

US Mission Nigeria signs an MOU with Bank PHB for the renewal of support to the Fulbright Program

Date: June 11, 2009
Venue: Lagos

Ambassador Robin Sanders and CEO/MD of Bank PHB, Mr. Francis Atuche shake hands after signing the MOU | Full size

The Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Diplomatic Mission to Nigeria (PAS) records another public-private-partnership success story through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Bank PHB on June 11th, 2009 at a dinner in Lagos hosted by the bank in honor of the US Ambassador Robin Sanders.  The MOU will jointly expand the access of Nigerian scholars to the Fulbright Visiting Scholar Program. During the welcome remarks by the CEO of Bank PHB, Mr. Francis Atuche, and the subsequent response by Ambassador Sanders, it was noted that this was the first private organization to partner with the US Mission in Nigeria on the Fulbright program. In May 2007, Bank PHB dedicated $100,000 to be used over three years to support Nigerian Fulbright Visiting Scholars to conduct research in the United States. The scholars who benefitted came from three of the 19 institutions affiliated to PAS on the Fulbright program. In 07-08, the bank sponsored a Lecturer in Political Science from Lagos State University. He was at the University of California, Los Angeles conducting research on Youth Violence as Social Work in Nigeria which took a critical look at the issue in the Niger Delta. In 08-09, a Lecturer in the Department of Agriculture, University of Maiduguri was sponsored to Oregon State University, Corvallis to conduct research on weeds that affect the growth of grains. In August 2009, a Research Fellow with the Institute of Oceanography, University of Calabar will leave Nigeria to conduct a nine-month environmental science based research on “Identification and characterization of spawning and nursery habitats in a mangrove ecosystem using Geographic Information System and Remote Sensing” at University of South Florida, St. Petersburg. The signing of the MOU afforded PAS the opportunity to enter into a four-year PPP with Bank PHB who will fund one Nigerian Senior Fulbright Scholar each year over the next four academic years. The first scholar under this new PPP would benefit in 2010-2011. Continuation of this PPP assures us that at least one additional qualified Nigerian Fulbright Scholar can continue to enjoy the benefits of a Fulbright grant to the US.