This month's profiling Nigerian episode takes me to Gossy Ukanwoke. The then 21 year old entrepreneur founded of Beni American University(BAU), Nigeria's first private online university. Launched in late 2012, the school allows students to access their classes at any time of the day with any internet-enabled device. A 12 week online course at BAU can cost $100-$300, while the average age of students is 26.
"We are providing executive programs for graduates who are looking for employment and want to build up their resumes, or managers who want to climb up the hierarchy of their companies," says Ukanwoke, now 25 years old.
"We also have courses targeted at people who want to start their own business."
"When I created Students Circle in 2010," explains Ukanwoke, "I found out that ... many were looking for certificates, hoping that they could get something they could use to maybe find employment or get a promotion in the workplace.
"There was a need for a new institution to be created in Nigeria," adds Ukanwoke, who was once described by Forbes as "Nigeria's Mark Zuckerberg."
18 months into his new business endeavor, Ukanwoke has hired 10 instructors and has about 200 students, with an average age of 26.
"I grew up within the framework where education was put at a very high level of importance, and entrepreneurship is something that I always wanted to do," he says.
"Without education I don't think we can do any progress," he adds. "It's not just about getting a certificate -- education is about teaching people how to make a living and teaching people how to live; how to interact with others, how to lead their lives and make something out of themselves," continues Ukanwoke.
"With education comes discipline and we need a lot of discipline in Nigeria as well, so education is really important."
Culled from CNN
I'm not 21. I'm not from Benue State.
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