By Okey Emmanuel
Cross River born World Bank consultant Mr. Princewill Odidi has organized a two day training workshop in Calabar, Cross River State capital on “Grant Writing and Non Governmental Organization (NGO) Creation”.
According to Odidi, the objective of the training is to help interested members of the society write clear and concise proposals in seeking grants from companies and foundation to further assist their communities.
He described the training as an avenue for him to give back to not just the society but to people from his own country Nigeria and State precisely, saying the training is aimed at helping people discover and follow the right procedures in seeking for grants.
According to Odidi, “The purpose of the workshop is to expose cross River Indigenes to different international funding platforms and how to access them. During the class session, we reviewed United States funding platforms including grants.gov, Celebrity Blackbook, foundation database, and several American foundations that fund programs in Africa.
“Upon introducing students to this platforms, we proceeded to show them how to apply for grants from these foundations, how to meet funding requirements, and how to put the packet together.
“We also introduced students to several international donor programs and how to qualify for funding. We reviewed British aid, USaid, Canadian international development fund, German and Australian donor funds for Nigeria.
“We also showed the students how to put the packets together. The complete training will be 12 sessions. So far we have completed 2 sessions. The third session will hold January 27th. We have 51 persons attending the current session which will end in May 2017.
“Participants will be issued Certification of Grant writing completion from the American Small Business Institute, having completed a total 96 credit hours. I plan to personally work with a participants within the next one year to help them obtain grants for their programs.
“I also plan to personally introduce most of the participants to various American organizations to partner with them for project execution. This I consider my personal contribution to empower Cross River Indigenes through skill and capacity development.”
On his part, the Commissioner for ICT Cross River State, Chief Ofu Ebriegor Ayia gave his word to all participants of the training, admonishing them to listen attentively and put in their best to make sure they get the best out of the training.
Participants were taught how to set up NGO’s, Register Small Businesses, How to Identify Target Population and Define Needs Analysis, How to Introduce Your Project to the World Using Web and Social Media, How to Set Up a Public Board of Directors, Draft Bylaws and How to Research for Funding Partners.