About IFRES


		Home

IFRES grant cycle for grant year 2006 | Info for grant seekers | IFRES 2006 grant recipients| How we are funded


Who we are
Underlying Values The values that underlie the foundation’s grant giving and which we wish to share with grantees and other stakeholders include sincerity of purpose, honesty, integrity, accountability, transparency, self-reliance and social justice.

The Foundation is Nigerian-managed, Nigerian-led and Nigerian (family)-funded. We expect grantees to share these values with us as a basis of sharing the goals of the Foundation. Grantees are encouraged not to see IFRES merely as one source of research funds but as an indigenous promoter of certain core values to propel us to use policy-relevant research to transform Nigerian, nay African, society through the use of knowledge from research for national and regional development. Our expectation is that the internalization of these values by grantees will transcend their specific grant relationship with IFRES to other aspects of their professional and personal lives.

Motivation for setting up Idachaba Foundation
The decision to establish the Foundation has been greatly influenced by experience of its founder, Professor F. S. Idachaba, OFR, in research and scholarship. For his educational career, Idachaba was a beneficiary of generous scholarship awards. For his secondary education up to the West African School Certificate (WASC) at the Provincial Secondary School, Okene, Kogi State (1956-61), he enjoyed the very generous scholarship support of the Igala Native Authority, second in resources and tax revenue only to Kano Native Authority in the old Northern Nigeria. He paid school fees of only two pounds (four naira then or about N500 in 2005 naira) per year, like any other Igala student. In addition, the Igala Native Authority paid his transport fares to and from school (Idah-Okene-Idah) after each term’s holiday. Also, Idachaba enjoyed free school uniforms, feeding, accommodation, and weekly pocket money, among other items of support.

As one of 15 students selected purely on merit from Northern Nigeria to do his Higher School Certificate (HSC) in King’s College, Lagos (1962-63) as part of a policy based on the unique political vision of the late Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello, Idachaba enjoyed 100 percent support from the very generous Northern Nigeria Government Scholarship. The support from the Northern Nigeria Government Scholarship was so generous that even as a student, Idachaba assumed full financial responsibility for many members of his extended family as from his Lower Sixth Form year in King’s College, Lagos (1962).

For his undergraduate studies at the University of Ibadan (1964-67), Idachaba again enjoyed 100 percent support from the very generous Northern Nigeria Government Scholarship which was the envy of other students at Ibadan in those days (especially when the Northern students went to collect their “Bulgaria” from the Bursary). The Northern Nigeria Government Scholarship was so generous that Idachaba did not have to utilize one kobo of the University of Ibadan Undergraduate Scholarship and the University of Ibadan Postgraduate Scholarship both of which he won purely on merit as a “University Scholar” in 1965 and 1967, respectively. For his postgraduate studies at the University of Chicago and Michigan State University (1967-72) in the USA, Idachaba enjoyed the very generous Rockefeller Foundation Scholarship as a Rockefeller Foundation Scholar.

And for his academic career at the University of Ibadan spanning more than three decades (1972-2003), Idachaba enjoyed generous research funding support from the Federal Government of Nigeria through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Washington DC, USA, the International Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR), The Hague, The Netherlands, members of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and other Agencies of the United Nations Organization, the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations, and the International Development Research Center, Canada, to name but just a few.

Idachaba decided during his recent seven-year stint with the International Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR), The Hague, The Netherlands (where he had risen to become the first and only African to be appointed Deputy Director General, ISNAR in 1998) that on his return to Nigeria, he would implement his long-incubating desire to set up a small research and scholarship foundation to engage in innovative small scale research and scholarship philanthropy that would focus on capacity building of young researchers and scholars to transform the society. Idachaba resolved while in The Hague that the period after his return to Nigeria would be “pay-back” time, the time to give back to the Nigerian, nay the African, society from the blessings God had showered him with. This was the inspiration that led him to take early voluntary retirement from the University of Ibadan in March 2003 where he had been an academic staff member since March 1972 to establish the F. S. Idachaba Foundation for Research and Scholarship (IFRES).

Why the focus on young researchers and scholars?
Having received the bulk of his research and scholarship support in his youthful years leading to his appointment as Professor of Agricultural Economics at the University of Ibadan at the age of 38 years in 1981, Idachaba decided that IFRES support for research and scholarship will focus entirely on researchers and scholars below the age of 40 years.

We believe that the most important factor that explains the progress of societies and countries over the ages is the quality of human capital, not the quantity of physical capital such as petroleum. Social and economic progress among peoples and societies in Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa in the years ahead will come mostly from accelerated human capital accumulation and development through capacity building. Research, especially by the young Nigerians and Africans in the prime of their intellectual activity, does matter.

Niche
The niche of the Idachaba Foundation is capacity building in policy-relevant research to transform society

47 Francis Okediji Street, Bodija, UI P.O.Box 19906, Ibadan, Nigeria. Phone: 234-803-3605124; 234-2-8104933. Fax: 234-2-8104933. Email: ifres@skannet.com

About IFRES


		Home

IFRES grant cycle for grant year 2006 | Info for grant seekers | IFRES 2006 grant recipients| How we are funded


Who we are
Underlying Values The values that underlie the foundation’s grant giving and which we wish to share with grantees and other stakeholders include sincerity of purpose, honesty, integrity, accountability, transparency, self-reliance and social justice.

The Foundation is Nigerian-managed, Nigerian-led and Nigerian (family)-funded. We expect grantees to share these values with us as a basis of sharing the goals of the Foundation. Grantees are encouraged not to see IFRES merely as one source of research funds but as an indigenous promoter of certain core values to propel us to use policy-relevant research to transform Nigerian, nay African, society through the use of knowledge from research for national and regional development. Our expectation is that the internalization of these values by grantees will transcend their specific grant relationship with IFRES to other aspects of their professional and personal lives.

Motivation for setting up Idachaba Foundation
The decision to establish the Foundation has been greatly influenced by experience of its founder, Professor F. S. Idachaba, OFR, in research and scholarship. For his educational career, Idachaba was a beneficiary of generous scholarship awards. For his secondary education up to the West African School Certificate (WASC) at the Provincial Secondary School, Okene, Kogi State (1956-61), he enjoyed the very generous scholarship support of the Igala Native Authority, second in resources and tax revenue only to Kano Native Authority in the old Northern Nigeria. He paid school fees of only two pounds (four naira then or about N500 in 2005 naira) per year, like any other Igala student. In addition, the Igala Native Authority paid his transport fares to and from school (Idah-Okene-Idah) after each term’s holiday. Also, Idachaba enjoyed free school uniforms, feeding, accommodation, and weekly pocket money, among other items of support.

As one of 15 students selected purely on merit from Northern Nigeria to do his Higher School Certificate (HSC) in King’s College, Lagos (1962-63) as part of a policy based on the unique political vision of the late Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello, Idachaba enjoyed 100 percent support from the very generous Northern Nigeria Government Scholarship. The support from the Northern Nigeria Government Scholarship was so generous that even as a student, Idachaba assumed full financial responsibility for many members of his extended family as from his Lower Sixth Form year in King’s College, Lagos (1962).

For his undergraduate studies at the University of Ibadan (1964-67), Idachaba again enjoyed 100 percent support from the very generous Northern Nigeria Government Scholarship which was the envy of other students at Ibadan in those days (especially when the Northern students went to collect their “Bulgaria” from the Bursary). The Northern Nigeria Government Scholarship was so generous that Idachaba did not have to utilize one kobo of the University of Ibadan Undergraduate Scholarship and the University of Ibadan Postgraduate Scholarship both of which he won purely on merit as a “University Scholar” in 1965 and 1967, respectively. For his postgraduate studies at the University of Chicago and Michigan State University (1967-72) in the USA, Idachaba enjoyed the very generous Rockefeller Foundation Scholarship as a Rockefeller Foundation Scholar.

And for his academic career at the University of Ibadan spanning more than three decades (1972-2003), Idachaba enjoyed generous research funding support from the Federal Government of Nigeria through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Washington DC, USA, the International Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR), The Hague, The Netherlands, members of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and other Agencies of the United Nations Organization, the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations, and the International Development Research Center, Canada, to name but just a few.

Idachaba decided during his recent seven-year stint with the International Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR), The Hague, The Netherlands (where he had risen to become the first and only African to be appointed Deputy Director General, ISNAR in 1998) that on his return to Nigeria, he would implement his long-incubating desire to set up a small research and scholarship foundation to engage in innovative small scale research and scholarship philanthropy that would focus on capacity building of young researchers and scholars to transform the society. Idachaba resolved while in The Hague that the period after his return to Nigeria would be “pay-back” time, the time to give back to the Nigerian, nay the African, society from the blessings God had showered him with. This was the inspiration that led him to take early voluntary retirement from the University of Ibadan in March 2003 where he had been an academic staff member since March 1972 to establish the F. S. Idachaba Foundation for Research and Scholarship (IFRES).

Why the focus on young researchers and scholars?
Having received the bulk of his research and scholarship support in his youthful years leading to his appointment as Professor of Agricultural Economics at the University of Ibadan at the age of 38 years in 1981, Idachaba decided that IFRES support for research and scholarship will focus entirely on researchers and scholars below the age of 40 years.

We believe that the most important factor that explains the progress of societies and countries over the ages is the quality of human capital, not the quantity of physical capital such as petroleum. Social and economic progress among peoples and societies in Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa in the years ahead will come mostly from accelerated human capital accumulation and development through capacity building. Research, especially by the young Nigerians and Africans in the prime of their intellectual activity, does matter.

Niche
The niche of the Idachaba Foundation is capacity building in policy-relevant research to transform society

47 Francis Okediji Street, Bodija, UI P.O.Box 19906, Ibadan, Nigeria. Phone: 234-803-3605124; 234-2-8104933. Fax: 234-2-8104933. Email: ifres@skannet.com