By Awaal Gata
Abuja
U.S. Mission in Nigeria is set to send 101 young Nigerians to participate in the 2017 Mandela Washington Fellowship programme in the US.
A statement by the US Embassy’s Information Office yesterday quoted the embassy’s Counselor for Public Affairs, Mr. Aruna Amirthanayagam, as explaining that more than 22,000 Nigerians applied to participate in the programme, this year.
Amirthanayagam also said the selected fellows, “along with 899 colleagues from 48 other sub-Saharan countries, will have the opportunity to engage students, professors, and professionals on the campuses of 40 universities, colleges, and institutions across the United States, from the University of San Diego in California to Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, and many place in between.”
The six-week training, which will hold between June 15 and August 3, is the flagship programme of the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI).
It is composed of academic coursework, leadership training, and networking. A total of four out of the 101 fellows will remain in the U.S. at the conclusion of the fellowship for internships of six more weeks.
Through this initiative, 40 U.S. universities will host 1,000 young leaders from Sub-Saharan Africa for institutes focused on public management, business and entrepreneurship, civic leadership, and for the second year, a specialised institute on energy.
