840 African Scholars Awarded Fellowships in Next Gen Programme

Abuja: A total of 840 scholars in Africa have been awarded fellowships under the Next Generation (Next Gen) Programme, as announced by Dr. Cyril Obi, the Programme Director of the African Peacebuilding Network (APN) and Next Gen Programme. This announcement was made during the inaugural African Peacebuilding Network and Next Gen African Universities Seminar Series (AUSS-NG) held at the University of Abuja's main campus. According to News Agency of Nigeria, Obi, represented by Ms. Maimouna Cherif, Programme Assistant for APN and Next Gen, stated that the fellowship recipients include 563 Next Gen fellows and 277 APN fellows. The success of these fellowship awards was attributed to the long-standing support of the Carnegie Corporation of New York (CCNY) and the commendable efforts of the Social Science Research Council (SSRC). The SSRC is recognized as a leading global research council dedicated to advancing knowledge and nurturing social scientists worldwide. Obi highlighted the substantial contributions of the APN and Next Gen programmes to the professional development of Africa-based scholars. These programmes have supported the production of high-quality and globally visible research, facilitated the completion of doctoral studies, and positively impacted higher education and knowledge production across the continent. Obi further explained that the AUSS is an initiative of the SSRC's APN and Next Gen Programme, designed to connect fellows within an organic community of knowledge and practice. This initiative enables fellows and alumni to design and organize seminars showcasing research results from program-supported projects. The seminar series brings together former and current fellows, organized by a Local Organizing Committee (LoC) drawn exclusively from within the community. This committee collaborates with two program-appointed co-advisors to design and organize the two-day national seminar. In their votes of thanks, co-chairs Dr. Joyce Agofure and Dr. Sani Adam expressed gratitude to Obi and his repr esentative, Cherif, for her representation. They also thanked the keynote speaker, Prof. Babatunde, for an incisive and thought-provoking lecture.