How Much Does it Cost to Get a Project Management Training in Nigeria

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Getting a quality project management training in Nigeria can cost anywhere from tens to hundreds of thousands of naira, depending on the training course you are applying for and the academy or training center offering it.

There are several project management certifications and most require you to write and pass its own professional examination before awarding a professional certification. Also, to stand a good chance of passing any of the professional examination, you need to do a proper self-study or seek for quality training on that particular certification. And most training comes at a price!

The cost of some project management certification trainings are as low as N30,000 while some are as high as N600,000, but you should note that the price of any certification training varies from one academy to the other, and also that the price does not always determine the quality of the training you would receive. This is one of the reasons why you need to research on some project management academies before committing your hard-earned money.

Furthermore, before committing your money, try and find out what the fee you’re been charged for covers. Some training fee covers all the materials or resources you would need during the duration of your training, while some don’t. Also try and find out the course contents and quality of the trainers in the academy.

However, if you seek any project management certification training and you are not sure of where to get quality training in Nigeria, you can get in touch with me as I help clients, both private and corporate, source for the best project management academy within their location. Call (+234) 07030972415, 07057681036, or send an email to info @ jerryihejirika.com.

How the Educational Sector Can Develop the Practice of Project Management in Africa

If education is truly the key to any nation’s development, then education should be the key to the development of project management in Africa.

Higher or tertiary institutions offering various degree courses in project management in Africa have crucial roles to play in the development and advancement of the profession within the continent.

In case you don’t know, I’m a Bachelor’s degree holder in Project Management Technology (PMT) of the Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO), Nigeria, and I will be sharing with you my knowledge and opinion on how the educational sector can help develop and advance the practice of project management, as part of my “Project Management for Africa” Initiative is working with institutions offering degree courses in project management in Africa.

Number of Institutions in Nigeria

FUTO was the first tertiary institution in Nigeria to offer a degree course in project management. They started offering a bachelor’s degree course in the year 1982, and now offer post-graduate degree courses in project management. You can click here to view the list of other institutions offering degree courses in project management in Nigeria.

However, the number of institutions offering the course in Nigeria is still quite low when compared to the number of higher institutions established within the country. And one of the reasons is due to the level of awareness of the profession within the country. With the initiative, we’re looking forward to working with and encouraging some institutions in setting up a project management department.

Level of Awareness

Did you know that at least…

• 40 per cent of project management graduates (bachelor’s degree holders) in Nigeria have never heard about the profession prior to gaining admission? (How they ended up in the department is beyond the scope of this article)


• 30 per cent of project management graduates in Nigeria do not know where or how to pursue their project management career?


• 70 per cent of project management graduates in Nigeria end up in other fields, positions and roles not relating to project management?

The point I’m trying to let you know is that the level of awareness of the profession in each country will always have a direct impact on the number of persons who are highly interested in studying the course within that country. And the more interested persons we have who knew about the course prior to gaining admission, the less they would want divert away from the profession upon graduating. Let me ask you, “What is the possibility or probability of persons who never applied to study medicine, pharmacy, architect, law, or any other professional course with high-level of awareness and practice gaining admission into any of those departments?” The department of project management in various institutions in Africa who are interested in supporting or sponsoring our initiative in terms of creating more awareness about the profession, are free to contact us.

Quality of Graduates

Our initiative does not focus only on creating awareness campaigns, but also in supporting institutions to produce quality graduates for the project management industry. One of the very few negative experiences I had while pursuing my degree in FUTO was the act of awarding a particular course to a lecturer who knows next-to-nothing about the course. On what capacity, on what knowledge and on what criteria would a lecturer grade or asses a student when the lecturer has openly admitted that he/she knows next-to-nothing about that particular course? The department should be blamed for offering the lecture the power to handle such a course and the lecturer should be blamed also for accepting it. This is one of the negative issues that should be checked and corrected by not just FUTO, but every other institution that’s offering a project management degree course in Africa, because the quality of graduates being produced will have a direct impact on the growth and development of the project management industry of each country.

Courses Review

The department of project management across various institutions in Africa need to review the courses being offered to its students, at least every 4 to 5 years. I would suggest the Nigeria Association of Project Management Professionals (NAPMP), Project Management South Africa (PMSA), and other national bodies representing project management in various African countries to organize a get-together with heads of departments, professors and consultants in project management within their country to create a standard course format that would strictly be adhered to by any higher institution offering a degree course in project management within that country. This will go a long way in developing the practice of project management in Africa. Another point of notice, if any new course is added, such course should be handled by a lecturer who is very knowledgeable about the course, and that’s why continuous learning and research are not only for the students, but for the lecturers as well.

Career Counseling

This is one thing that’s missing in most institutions in Nigeria. Most persons in Nigeria are confused about what course to study. Some who have already gained admission are even more confused about what roles their profession plays in the society, and project management students are not left out. Recently, I received series of email from a project management student. For personal reasons, I won’t mention the name of the person but I will quote the email for you to read: “Hi Project Manager, how is a project management graduate holder considered in the labour market? I am also studying PMT 400-Level in FUTMinna.” “Hi Project Manager, what would a project management graduate do in a construction company on site that’s different from a civil engineer, because it’s like only engineers are recognized on site? Please give me proper definition of the responsibility of a project management graduate without engineering degree on site.” “Hi brother, it has been somehow intimidating here, I think we have to define our roles and let the general public (other professionals) know. Am presently undergoing my Industrial training (IT) and I really need where project management is being practiced so that I can know what to build upon, which is very scarce.” My initiative is looking forward to working with project management departments in Africa, at offering counseling and career advice to their project management students. But for now, if you’re a PMT student or new graduate who’s still confused about where or how to pursue your project management career, I would suggest you read these two of my articles:

• Who is a Project Management Technologist?


• I Am Now a Project Management Graduate, What Next?

It would offer you some great tips.

Professional Certification

Won’t it be great if some project management students in Africa would graduate with not only a bachelor’s degree but also with a professional certification in project management? This will help in not only boosting their knowledge, as they would have to study more to sit for any of such professional examination, but it would also boost their Curriculum Vitae and their chances of getting a job in the industry. There are organizations and institutes around the world who offer some globally-accepted professional certifications in project management that do not require working experience before applying and sitting for the examination The departments of each institution should find a way in liaising with such organizations so as to offer interested students the opportunity of being certified in some professional certifications while graduating.

I have a firm believe that the educational sector have crucial roles to play in advancing the practice of project management in Africa. Non-African countries are also free to adopt some of the ideas and tips shared above if they see fit.

If you’re interested in supporting my “Project Management for Africa” Initiative or sponsoring any of our plans/events, send an email to info @ jerryihejirika.com or call (+234) 07030972415, 07057681036.

Together, we will transform Africa through project management.

project management, Project Management Africa, Project Management Education, project management nigeria

Taking Project Management to the Grassroots in Africa

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Taking project management to the grassroots in Africa is one of the major plans in my “Project Management for Africa” Initiative, and some persons have been asking me how I plan to accomplish this or what line of action would be taken.

This grassroots plan focuses more on the educational sectors in Africa. Before one becomes a project management graduate in Africa, there are 3 levels of education that one needs to pass through:

1st: The primary education (elementary schools)
2nd: The secondary education (high schools)
3rd: The higher education (polytechnics, colleges, or universities)

We’re looking forward to creating awareness campaigns that would match each level of education. Our aim is to have or create more “passionate” and professional project managers and less “accidental” project managers’ in the future in Africa.

The Primary Education: We are looking forward to designing children-like flyers or pamphlets, not to ‘directly’ promote project management, but to create a list of some popular professions, of which project management will be included. Each profession that’s listed will explain the roles they play in the society in written and pictorial format. For example, “I want to be a Doctor because Doctors cure the sick,” “I want to a Lawyer because Lawyers…..,” “I want to be a Project Manager because Project Managers….” By the time these children get to the secondary school level, some would be aware that there are professionals called Project Managers who pursue their career in the field of project management. Title to be used: “Children, What Would You Like To Be When You Grow Up?”

The Secondary Education: If you pursued and accomplished your project management professional status in Africa, let me ask you: “Were you aware of the project management profession during your secondary school days?” I never heard about the profession during my secondary school days! We are looking forward to designing informational papers that would target students at the secondary levels. Topic: “Who are Project Managers and What Roles Do They Play in the Society?” or any suitable title.

The Higher Education: If you’re a project management practitioner in Africa, tell me: “At what stage of your life did you became aware of the project management profession?” I first got to hear about the project management profession when I accidentally came in contact with a student who was pursuing a degree program in project management technology at the Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO), Nigeria. Then, I was planning on gaining admission into the institution. From then on, I picked interest in the profession, gained admission to study the course and now pursuing a career in the field of project management. I’d a lot of research on project management, met project management practitioners in Nigeria and networked with project managers around the world via social media, and it helped developed my passion for the profession. But, I must also tell you that during my 5 years of pursuing my degree program in FUTO, I met and discussed with a lot of project management students. Some “accidentally” got admission into the department and right till the last moment, were never interested in pursuing a career in the field of project management. Some who were very much interested in pursuing a career in project management were kind of confused about where or how to get started when they graduate. Some, who were also interested, have done their research, knew a lot about the profession and have mapped out a career path in the profession. I noticed that there was a low-level of awareness and lack of flow of information as regarding projects and project management in Nigeria, so I started this blog during my final year in school with the aim of helping to create more awareness and promote the profession in Nigeria. My aim now is to take it beyond Nigeria and focus on Africa at large. Not an easy task but also not an impossible task! So, through my initiative, I’m looking forward to working with project management departments in various higher institutions across Africa. The initiative will not be offering training, but career and counseling advice to project management students in Africa. The initiative also aims to distribute informational materials which will contain featured articles, career advice, stories, interviews, news, research, events and book review on project management. This informational materials will be distributed at a token price to the students. We want our project management students in Africa to be proud and have passion for the profession and also have a clear view of how they can pursue or advance their career in the profession upon graduating.

So these are our grassroots plans for the initiative and we need your support and/or sponsorship to make it a success. Each sponsor will have the privilege of placing an advert on any of our informational materials. We are also looking forward to creating a website for our “Project Management for Africa” Initiative.

Please note that some of our plans would only be made known to our supporters and sponsors via email until the main website is launched. So if you’re interested in supporting or sponsoring any of our plans, please fill in the form below:

[contact-form-7 id="2400" title="PM for Africa"]

Together, we will transform Africa through project management.