Dr Tunde Adekola, a Senior Education Specialist with the World Bank, has said in Abuja that 12 Nigerian research institutions would benefit from the bank's $5 million research grants.

Adekola told Newsday that the bank would release the funds in 2013 when the second phase of its Step-B Projects was expected to begin.

The education specialist said the institutions would serve as centres of excellence, noting that the essence was to promote partnership and collaboration between the agencies and the World Bank.

He said the bank's support was designed to improve what was already on ground, and to leverage on what the agencies were doing.
``Instead of spreading the funds all over, like what we were doing before, now we work with 12 institutions to become centres of excellence.'’

Adekola explained that during the first phase, 200 institutions were given grants to strengthen their research works, while ``the second phase, which is to begin in 2013, will only accommodate 12 institutions.''

He said that the bank was giving the grants to fewer institutions in the second phase for the impact to be greatly felt.
The education specialist, however, said that other institutions would also get funds from the bank but not as much as the 12 which the bank wanted to become centres of excellence.

He said the 12 agencies were selected based on the quality and importance of their research works.

The World Bank, he said, was currently supporting projects execution in all federal universities, polytechnics, colleges of education and almost 80 per cent of federal research institutions at the cost of $180 million dollars.

``If you go to any federal college today, there is a World Bank project.