By Blessing Ajao
I am excited to have been one of the participants at the 3rd AfricaLics Academy that took place at Mombasa, Kenya in 2015. I was at the end of the first year of my Ph.D when I attended the academy. AfricaLics academy was the first training exposure I ever had. I hadn’t been opportuned to attend any international training or fora before then. It was a big opportunity for me.
Prior to the academy, I had always thought I had a well structured research proposal to bag a doctoral degree, not until I presented my research proposal and I realized that I had not even started. I felt empty like I knew nothing, I felt challenged, and I decided to have a fresh start by refocusing my research.
The lectures and positive criticism I got from the scholars and students widened my horizon in the area of theoretical frameworks, analytical techniques and how to convert a thesis into good research product and scientific research papers. I used all the training experience to my advantage and improved on my research work.
During the academy, I also met senior scholars whom naturally I may not have been opportuned to meet outside the platform of AfricaLics. I have since enjoyed career mentorship from most of these scholars. My research network has also gone beyond the geographical jurisdiction of my country because I made good friends from the academy. After the academy, we formed a small whatapp group where we disseminate research calls for proposal and conferences. This has really helped me a lot because I have attended international conferences using the information I obtained from this group.
In addition, I have had invitations for international collaboration in publishing after the academy. My research skills have improved tremendously following the academy. As a matter of fact, after the academy, my reworked research proposal emerged as the sole African Region Winner of the Emerging Economies Doctoral Students Award on the occasion of the 26th Annual conference of the Production and Operations Management Society (POMS) at Washington D.C. in 2015.
Finally, I have learnt a lot to be able to give back. I am now part of the local organising committee for the 5th AfricaLics academy which has been co-hosted by African Institute for Science Policy and Innovation (AISPI) and National Centre for Technology Management (NACETEM), Nigeria. I am delighted to be instrumental in its success and also to be the chief rapporteur for the program.
In conclusion, AfricaLics academy 2015 has positively changed my career path, and for that I am appreciative. I want to use this social channel to say a big thank you to the sponsors and founding fathers of AfricaLics. Indeed you have sown a good seed; it is growing, I am growing, I can attest to some other participants that have also grown. I am better compared to where I started in 2015. Thank you AfricaLics, I represent AfricaLics, I stand for United Africa, I speak to move Africa forward and I work to develop Africa.
AfricaLics grooming Africans for Africa!!!
Blessing Ajao (Ph.D)