ABOUT CEFTER

Benue State University, Makurdi is one out of ten (10) Africa Centers Excellence (ACE) in Nigeria and one out of eighteen (18) such Centers in West and Central Africa Sub-region.

Benue State University, Makurdi won this World Bank grant after a stiff competition involving more than 100 Universities in this Sub-region.the grant is worth $8.Million and will cover a period of five year. The World Bank brought the project to address the problems of Higher education in West and Central Africa which has not been a priority for the past two decades.

Through the project, Students in supported institutions and their partner institutions from across West and Central Africa will benefit from quality research-based education which is in high demand.

Also, Companies, governmental and non-governmental organizations that partner with the Africa Centres of Excellence (ACEs) will gain from more interns, graduates will be trained in more relevant areas and from more relevant applied research to their business. Faculty and staff in the ACE will benefit from improved teaching and research conditions and through fully funded training to improve the capacity of the ACE.

Within that, institutions will have autonomy to implement their own institutional specific proposal which encompasses the following five elements:

1. 1. Enhance capacity to deliver regional high quality training to address the development challenge.
2. 2. Enhance capacity to deliver applied research to address the regional development challenge.
3. 3. Build and use industry/sector partnerships to enhance impact of the Centre on development and increase relevance of the Centre’s education and research.
4. 4. Build and strengthen regional and international academic partnerships to raise quality of education in other institutions in the region.
5. 5. Enhance governance and management to improve monitoring and evaluation, administration, fiduciary management, transparency, ability to generate resources, and project implementation.

The higher order objective of the proposed project is to meet the labor market demands for skills within specific areas where there are skill shortages affecting development, economic growth and poverty reduction. It is estimated that Sub–Saharan Africa losses food valued at about $4.0 billion annually due to post–harvest losses. Contaminated food due to poor storage results to 1.5 billion cases of diarrhea leading to 3 million deaths yearly. CEFTER’s focus is therefore on Development and utilization of improved technologies to reduce post-harvest food losses

STUDENT WELFARE PACKAGES

The Centre for Food Technology and Research (CEFTER), Benue State University, Makurdi has the following welfare packages for her students

1. i. Accommodation.
2. ii. Logistics support.
3. iii. English language support before commencement of academic session.
4. iv. Airport pickup from Abuja airport to the hostels for our foreign students.
5. v. E-library training.
6. vi. Formal orientation, tour guide of the University and Makurdi city.
7. vii. Medicals.
8. viii. Monthly stipend for foreign students.

Accommodation: The Centre has well-furnished student hostels with 24-hour internet connection, water supply and electricity. The hostels are located within proximity of the University campus.

Logistics: The Centre operates an International Student Department tasked with the responsibility of assisting students with applications for admission, student support and visa.

English Language Support: The Centre also operates a Bilingual Department where regional students from Francophone speaking countries are given 3 month English language support before commencement of academic session.

Airport Pickup: CEFTER offers free pickup service from the NnamdiAzikwe International Airport, Abuja to the student hostel for foreign students on arrival into Nigeria. On arrival at the University campus, they are received by the Vice Chancellor of the University.

E-Library Training: The Centre offers free mandatory training for new students on modern learning and research activities such as referencing, Microsoft PowerPoint presentation, endnote etc.

Formal orientation and tour guide of the University and Makurdi City: Students on arrival are taken round the University Campus and Makurdi city. The places visited usually include markets, places of worship, banks, the public library, police station and supermarkets. The week orientation is organised for students to acquaint them with the operations and activities of the University.

Medicals: Our foreign students register with the school clinic and access free medical services when they are sick or need medical attention.

Monthly Stipends: All foreign students in addition to other students are provided with monthly stipends and grants during their duration of study.