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:
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