By Princewill Ekwujuru

Ogabu Jesse Chukwunonso is 26, holds a Bachelor’s degree in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering from University of Lagos,  had his secondary education at Igbobi College where he finished as the best science student, and also represented Lagos State at the National Olympaid competition in Abuja.  His  passion for the younger generation led to his pioneering a youth organisation called United Change Agent Leadership Initiative, UCALI. 

He is currently the founder of some start-up, a healthy lifestyle outfit that caters for the   fruits and vegetable needs of the working class. He is also the coordinator of Education Nexus Industry Project (ENIPro), a project aimed at bringing the industry to the classroom at an early age. This project was selected among the top 50 Nigeria Enterprises by British Council in 2016, and  also as one of the 1000 projects that would transform Africa by Tony Elumelu Foundation in 2016. This coveted spot has proved that ENIPro is a viable project that is set to rewrite the narrative of pragmatic way of learning that the educational system requires.

Practical leaning:

*Ogabu Jesse Chukwunonso…. students can begin to see the relevance of what they do in school as it relates to industry.

In the absence of practical learning aid that complements theories in Nigerian schools to adequately enhance knowledge, a young Nigerian has initiated a project designed to match professionalism and expertise in different fields with students for practical experience.

In developing the initiative called ENIPro, conceived in 2011, Jesse Chukwunonso explained that ENIPro is a platform that brings the industry to the classroom at early age for students. “This means that students in schools can begin to see the relevance of what they do in school as it relates to industry.”

The project, according to Chukwunonso who is in his 20s, creates a platform that allows students to interact with their identified specific professionals/executives/workers in different companies relating to their  dreams.

“This is a mentor–mentee relationship for practical understanding of school work for knowledge enhancement.

Social service:

Describing the project as a social service, the initiator said the platform is an online knowledge-sharing platform where mentors and mentees can sign up and at end, there will be interaction. “For instance, those who dream to be doctors, lawyers, journalists, engineers in different fields among others, would be attached to professionals in those fields in different companies to understand from early age what the work is all about. This enhances education and knowledge.

“Even if the student fails a course, there is a future for the student as he/she has understood the practical aspect of what he is studying. In fact, this means there is opportunity to re-write the story again.” Chukwunonso who said he is driven by passion to make impact in the lives of Nigerian students said he has done some background work on the benefits of the project and he has also made moves to write to organisations pre-informing them on the project to see how students in schools can understand these industrial practices while they are in school.

“It is an online platform but the mentor-mentee could agree to meet physically at the instance of the mentor. Under the project, he believes that some students or start-ups who are also allowed to be mentored in the project might be lucky to interact with mentors who would believe in them, trust in their idea and may decide to invest in them. “It is a million naira investment and opportunity while still in school.”

Trust

“You can’t go in the streets looking for who will invest in your idea at that tender age but with ENIPro, you stumble on a mentor who believes in your idea and with constant interactions, he/she can begin to build that level of trust where he will invest in you. You can also be a tool to transform other people. It is a going concern, it is a project that the whole world needs to be aware of. The corporate world and students need to be aware.”

Chukwunonso said the idea came to him while on internship in an oil company as he was exposed to a lot of things. He stated that his concern was how to transform the lives of young people. He said during his national youth service in Port Harcourt, he put the idea to test which worked and now he is putting it to full scale to assist in developing students and the society.