STEP B Project Manager,
Prof. Omolayo Ariyo

The World Bank under its STEP B programme has awarded a sum of $165,000 to the University as research grants towards the execution of the second batch of the Innovators of Tomorrow (IOT) projects.

The STEP B Project Manager of the University, Professor Omolayo Ariyo disclosed this during a chat with UNAAB Bulletin.

According to Professor Ariyo, eleven Departments drawn from five Colleges of the University will benefit from the grant that is expected to facilitate research works at both the Ph.D and the M.Sc levels.

The benefitting Colleges are Animal Science and Livestock Production (COLANIM), Plant Science and Crop Production (COLPLANT) and Environmental Resources Management (COLERM). Others are College of Natural Sciences (COLNAS) and College of Food Science and Human Ecology (COLFHEC).

The Project Manager, who disclosed that the breakdown of the grant revealed that 37 Ph.D and seven M.Sc projects would be executed under the second batch of the scheme, said the beneficiaries are those that have between six months and one year left, to complete their postgraduate programmes.

Professor Ariyo said the Heads of Departments and Supervisors of the IOT awardees had been invited to a meeting with the University’s STEP B Project Officers, to intimate them of developments as well as drawing an effective logistic on the execution of the award.

The University, according to the Project Manager will be the ultimate beneficiary of the IOT award as laboratory equipment required for the various projects would be jointly procured and centrally located for easy access. He said they are vital equipment that will outlive the span of the projects.