ACE Signs Performance Contract With World Bank

The Africa Centres of Excellence (ACE) in Nigeria have signed Performance Contracts with the Federal Government and the World Bank, marking the last hurdle to be crossed before the release of the first tranche of funds to them. The ceremony, witnessed by the Honorable Minister of Education, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, was held at the National Universities Commission (NUC) in Abuja.

The ACE project which was launched in 2013, by the governments of Burkina Faso, Republic of Benin, Ghana, Cameroon, Togo, Senegal and Nigeria, with support from the World Bank was designed to promote regional specialty within the Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM), Agriculture and Health areas. It was meant to address particular common regional developmental challenges as well as strengthen the capacities of participating universities to deliver high quality training and applied research.

The benefiting universities, their centres and project titles are as follows: Redeemer's University, Mowe, Ogun State (Africa Center of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases, ACEGID); African University of Science & Technology, Abuja (PAN African Materials Institute, PAMI); Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (Center for Agricultural Development & Sustainable Environment); Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria (Center of Excellence on Neglected Tropical Diseases and Forensic Biotechnology);

University of Jos, (Phytomedicine Research & Development, ACEPRD); University of Benin (Center for Excellence in Reproductive Health and Innovation) University of Port-Harcourt (ACE Center for Oil Field Chemicals). Others are: Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife (OAU Knowledge Park: A Model for National Science Technology and Knowledge Park Initiative); Bayero University, Kano (African Center of Excellence in Dryland Agriculture) and Benue State University, Makurdi (Centre for Food Technology and Research).

Each Centre is entitled for a grant award of a maximum of $8 million. The contract indicates, among others, that the expected funds for the ACE project are subject to certain financial parameters. Each university was represented at the signing ceremony by its Vice-Chancellor and Centre leader. Speaking at the ceremony, the Minister of Education, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau said that the nation was in an era where the lives of the citizens were, to a great extent, defined by innovations in the world of technology.

According to him, the ACE project was a call to action to tackle national and regional challenges, adding that the Centres had been entrusted with the responsibility of meeting the demand for skills required for the development of the nation and the sub-region, while strengthening their capacities to deliver high quality training and applied research.

Shekarau, however, cautioned the management of the host universities against undue interference and substitution of team members, so as to enable the Centres focus on the objectives of the project. He said: "Any changes to a team must be cleared with the NUC. Government would also not hesitate to reallocate funds from non-performing ACEs to those that are doing well. It is therefore your responsibility to work in harmony with your team to ensure that they perform optimally."

Investment in Projects

Following the signing of the contracts, Mallam Shekarau said that the NUC would work with the World Bank to release 10 per cent of the Centres' approved funds, to enable them commence work on their projects. He challenged the Centres to justify the huge amount of resources that the Federal Government had invested in the projects and expressed hope that results would be evident in no time.

Meanwhile, the Executive Secretary, NUC and Chairman, ACE Steering Committee, Professor Julius Okojie, in his welcome address said: "The event was a great one for the Nigerian University System (NUS) because it was celebrating a success story." Okojie who lamented the unfavorable judgement from international communities, disclosed that for some time now, Nigeria had suffered a lot of unfavorable judgement of its standard of education.

According to him, the fact that universities in the country won 10 out of the 19 ACEs, in a process that was strictly merit-based, was evidence that, though the system had suffered a great setback when it lost a significant number of faculty to the diaspora in the past, it has survived and is doing well. The scribe, however, charged participating universities to ensure stable academic calendars so that the Centres can run smoothly, assuring them that adequate provisions had been made for funds, facilities and equipment.

Okojie stated that in signing the Performance Contracts, the center leaders would pledge to make the best of the projects, stressing that Nigeria has a viable university system and it was up to every stakeholder to protect it. In her remarks, the World Bank Education Specialist, Himdat Bayusuf, congratulated the centres for scaling the last hurdle before the release of funds. She announced that the Centres had been working very hard since their selection and some were already breaking grounds in their fields, like the Redeemer's University, Mowe, which diagnosed the first case of Ebola in Nigeria.

She informed participating universities that the ACE Project also worked towards the development of the system, based on what was already on ground. She announced that the NUC would co-ordinate the disbursement of funds to the Centres, while the Bank would adopt the results-based financing model for the Project, which meant that after the first tranche, funds would be released only to centers that show evidence that previously-released funds had been judiciously utilized.

The World Bank, Bayusuf said, would also adopt the you snooze, you lose model, which means that grants for non-performing Centres would be reallocated to other Centres that are doing well.

In a goodwill message, the World Bank's Country Manager, Chief Bayo Awosemusi, who represented the Country Director, congratulated the Centres for a job well done. He commended the support of the Ministry of Education and the dedication of the NUC and the Centres. Reiterating the remarks of previous speakers, Awosemusi said the Centres were selected through a exhaustive process and expressed hope that they would make positive impact on the development of the nation's economy.

Positive Impact

He advised the Centres to ensure that team members were not changed, except on grounds of gross misappropriation of funds, adding that if the Centres kept to the rules, they would succeed. He noted that the ACE was a flagship project for the World Bank and that the Bank's senior management was closely monitoring it to assess how the Centres would achieve their Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

On behalf of participating federal universities, the Vice-Chancellor, Bayero University, Kano, Professor Abubakar Rasheed, expressed delight that the Project had become a reality. He noted that it was the first time such funds would be injected into the system for research and pledged that the Centres would keep to the terms of the contract signed. Speaking for participating state universities, the Vice-Chancellor, Benue State University, Makurdi, Professor Charity Angya, stated that the University was excited at being a part of the Project, adding that the dividends of the Project had begun to pay off in research drive in the universities.