At 23, when many people around the world are still at university,
Gossy Ukanwoke, from Abia State Nigeria, had already started one.
The young entrepreneur who is now 27, is the founder 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.
"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. "We
also have courses targeted at people who want to start their own business",
he also said.
Ukanwoke's idea to start BAU came from his previous online
venture called Students
Circle, an educational social networking site he'd launched while in
university that allows learners to interact and access free resources from
leading schools. Students Circle is
something like Facebook, but for scholars and
more serious-minded folks.
"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."
The startup's journey so far has not been without challenges
-- Nigerian laws require universities to have a physical campus so Ukanwoke
went and bought land in the country's Benue State with the goal to build a
private campus that could accommodate some 10,000 students.
The project was successful launched and the web courses are
up and running -- a 12 week online program can cost between $100 and $300.
Among the courses offered are corporate diplomacy, global marketing, leadership
and management, digital journalism, project management and entrepreneurship and
innovation, which is the university's most popular class.
"It's good because I have four kids," says
Chinenye Madukwe, one of BAU's students. "I have opportunity to work at
the same time, because I have a small interior design outfit."
Oo Nwoye, another BAU student, says he enrolled "for
the knowledge."
"It is just helpful for my business and that is the
most important thing to me," he explains.
A son of two teachers, Ukanwoke says he is driven by his
passion to use technology to solve social problems. "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," he finally said.
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