Hajara Kabeer- Chevening sample essays

Chevening is looking for individuals who have a clear post-study career plan.
Please outline your immediate plans upon returning home and your longer-term career
goals. You may wish to consider how these relate to what the UK government is doing
in your country.
Upon my return, I intend to explore opportunities in an International Oil Company
(IOC) as fifteen months out of my two-year work experience was spent on paid
internships with major IOCs, where I have already established very strong networks.
Alternatively, I will prospect for a position in a multilateral organization like
the UN or the World Bank as both the IOCs and these two agencies all have a global
'Sustainability' Agenda which align with my current vision, though the
implementation in Nigeria still leaves a lot to be desired. With my newly acquired
education and exposure, my focus will be to contribute to driving the sustainable
energy agenda from policy to action. Importantly, having a Nigerian like me in the
teams that interface with external stakeholders will be of great advantage to
bridging cultural differences that may hinder the implementation of policy.
I am also determined to continue my 'Girl in STEM' Empowerment Initiative. With the
added credibility of the Chevening Scholarship, I will be able to attract prominent
Nigerians as mentors, Board members and advisers. These influential people can help
me scale the program to a national level and connect me to the public sector, as no
meaningful progress can be made without engaging the government. I will continue to
engage with likeminded local and international NGOs both to drive school attendance
among girls and to encourage them to take STEM subjects. I will grow my influence
among more northern women and girls continuing my advocacy for girl-child education
in the North. I will not stop until we help disenfranchised young girls of Northern
Nigeria achieve their dreams of an education and a better life than their mothers.
I will use my alumna status to leverage the many interventions of the UK Department
for International Development - DFID and other initiatives such as the Safe Schools
Space Initiative, British Council and UKAID, to source for and access grants for
Girl in STEM activities. The number of out of school children in Northern Nigeria
is estimated at 12 million with more than half being girls. These agencies are
already operating in Northern Nigeria through various initiatives and it will be
easy for me to access their deep institutional knowledge to promote Girls in STEM,
simultaneously helping to strengthen ties between the UK and Nigeria.
Women in Nigeria are grossly underrepresented in the political space despite
Nigeria being a signatory to all global agreements on affirmative action. This is
especially true in the Muslim North where it is still a taboo for women to vie for
political offices. It is my ambition to participate in the political process as a
technocrat, political office holder. I will join the growing legion of professional
women in Nigeria who are demanding our rightful place in running the affairs of our
country.
I believe, the British Chevening Scholarship will be intrinsic to making me one of
the few women from my region to hold prominent positions in the energy sector and
the political space.