FIG Foundation - Building a Sustainable Future
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How the FIG Scholarship Helped Achieve my PhD degree and Educational
Career
"The FIG Foundation
scholarship made me to have more time for studying and learning which led to
the completion of my PhD programme within three years. Earning this
prestigious scholarship also made me stand out and become an attractive job
candidate as I immediately secured a job with the University of Reading UK
(Malaysia campus), helping me to accomplish my dream."
My name is Bruno Lot Tanko. I was born into the family of late Sir John
Tanko Mazadu and Lady Angelina John Tanko (KSJ) of Kurmin Bi, Zonkwa, Zangon
Kataf Local Government area of Kaduna state, Nigeria over three decades ago.
The first child and only son of four, I attended St. Josephs Minor Seminary,
Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria from 1994-2000 where I performed excellently in
my O’Level. I later proceeded to the Federal University of Technology Minna
where I broke all existing records to obtain a B.Tech (Quantity Surveying)
First Class Honors in 2007 and a distinction in Master of Science (M.Sc)
Construction Management at the University of Jos, Nigeria in 2012. My
insatiable thirst for knowledge led me to the prestigious Universiti
Teknologi Malaysia but without any sponsorship from my employer in Nigeria.
This made me to apply for the International Federation of Surveyors (FIG)
foundation PhD Scholarship in 2018.
I was awarded the 2018 FIG Foundation PhD scholarship for my research
project: roadmap for implementing value management in the Nigerian
Construction Industry. I was the recipient of this scholarship during my PhD
studies in the spring of 2018 at the commencement of my final year of
research. I recalled when I received a credit alert of €4000 from FIG
foundation while I was attending a church service at Skudai in Malaysia. I
didn’t know when I immediately stood up and gave a testimony about how this
prestigious scholarship will support my research and education by removing a
lot of financial barriers. I was extremely happy because I knew I had to
focus on my research instead of thinking about how to repay my loans. Apart
from my research, this scholarship was used to pay part of my tuition. The
FIG Foundation scholarship made me to have more time for studying and
learning which led to the completion of my PhD programme within three years.
Earning this prestigious scholarship also made me stand out and become an
attractive job candidate as I immediately secured a job with the University
of Reading UK (Malaysia campus), helping me to accomplish my dream. In my
academics, I have endeavoured to succeed, and my perseverance and hard work
have been fruitful. I lack words to express how grateful I am. Without the
FIG scholarship, my success would have been impossible.
My research was to develop a value management framework to optimise the
performance of constructions projects in developing countries like Nigeria.
This research was significant because Research and improvement in the use of
value-added techniques have continued to gain consideration worldwide as a
result of the universal expedition to cut construction projects costs
without sacrificing quality and performance of construction projects. The
research utilised several data analysis techniques including reliability
test, validity test using Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO), Barlett’s test of
sphericity, factor analysis, and structural equation modelling. The research
established a framework that suggests four (4) requirements that necessitate
the implementation of value management in the construction industry, namely
“people-related factors”, “government-related factors”, “environment-related
factors”, and “information/methodology-related factors”. The research was
validated by construction experts to confirm its suitability, usefulness,
applicability and acceptance.
I was able to publish the following peer-reviewed journal article and
conference article resulting from the research which was supported by the
FIG Foundation scholarship award:
- Tanko, B.L., Abdullah, F., Mohamad Ramly, Z. and Enegbuma, W.I.
(2018). An Implementation Framework of Value Management in the Nigerian
Construction Industry. Built Environment Project and Asset
Management, 8(3), 305-319.
https://doi.org/10.1108/BEPAM-09-2017-0078 or
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/BEPAM-09-2017-0078/full/html
- Tanko, B. L., Khiyon, N.A. and Flanagan, R. (2019). Evaluation of
Barriers to Value Management Application in Construction Projects In:
Laryea, S. and Essah, E. (Eds) Procs West Africa Built Environment
Research (WABER) Conference, 5-7 August 2019, Accra, Ghana,
551-569.
http://waberconference.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/WABER-2019-Conference-Proceedings-2.pdf
Thank you
/ Bruno Lot Tanko
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