Rich Chidi Nwagwu

Strategy Consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers Nigeria

Rich Chidi Nwagwu studied M.A Terrorism, International Crime and Global Security at Coventry University and graduated in 2017. Since graduating they have been working as Strategy Consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers Nigeria. Of their time at Coventry University they said; My experience at Coventry University exposed me to diversity within the educational environment that encourage a rich exchange of ideas within and among student from the various political, socio-cultural, and economic location of the world. This improved my perception of issues as security and how they are defined and managed per political environment. For me, the method of learning was novel and increased interaction within the academic environment which has enabled me to be more vocal within academic, work and other environment were networking, idea and information sharing is important. Also, the encouragement and opportunity sharing from my lecturers were most useful during my programme at Coventry. For example, I got to know about Rising Global from my lecturer, Salvatore Coluccello (a.k.a Rino) and this helped me reflect on the theoretical aspects of human rights and human security. In terms of academic evaluation, I appreciated the coursework rather than the examination style because it allowed me to read an array of articles within an academic area and improve on my writing and critical analysis skills. Rather than read a textbook on terrorism or memorize a definition for an exam, the coursework that came almost fortnightly improved my writing, referencing, and analytical skills on the go and reduced any chances of me becoming a lazy student that waits till exam period to prepare for academic evaluation. The Centre for Academic Writing provided good guidance while I was writing my dissertation and this support was very rare as an undergraduate student where such guidance would have been most valuable. Since graduating, Recently, I co-authored an article titled “Strategic Model for Nigeria’s Security and Socioeconomic Development”. I developed the tripeptide security model (Prevent, Respond, and Provide) within the article based on my exposure and critic of various national counter-extremism and counter-terrorism strategies while at Coventry University. The article has been approved for publication with a DOI number 10.1080/14725843.2020.1828041. I also wrote a paper for publication within PwC titled “COVID-19 and African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA) – Key Considerations” (https://www.pwc.com/ng/en/pdf/covid19-key-considerations-afcfta.pdf). I wrote this article based on my interest in the CFTA proposed to improve human security, economic opportunities, and international competitiveness for the continent and the ripple effect COVID-19 is having on the continent. This article was published within PricewaterhouseCoopers Nigeria. However, as a contract staff following internal policies of the firm, I could not be included as an author. I was part of the team at PricewaterhouseCoopers that led the launch of NNPC Retail Lubricants in February 2020 after carrying out a field survey and market analysis on the lubricants business environment in Nigeria especially high-potential markets. My role was to develop lubricant industry analysis, blending models, value proposition, and organizational structure. I have also helped my firm win contract jobs based on an improved technical proposal writing style that considers all the requirements from clients with corresponding and appropriate approach and methodology in executing the jobs. Some of these clients are within the public and private sector of the Nigerian government and a few from International Development Agencies (IDAs). One thing stood out for me during my time at Coventry, the Global Leadership Programme (GLP). This gave me a real experience in consulting for organisations that make positive change in the world and helps me today at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). I understood the metric of presentation, importance of critical analysis, questioning information to test validity, and communication within the w0rk environment. This helped me when I represented my organisation (PwC) in Edo State where I constantly interfaced with the State Governor on improved project management techniques, project tracking and reporting styles. It also helped me identify skills I needed to improve on namely, public speaking, leadership and networking. This influenced my membership with Toastmasters; an educational organisation that I joined to improve my public speaking and leadership skills and InterNations; a networking platform. I was very reserved and felt my opinions did not matter. I held this mindset because I am introverted and thought about what people will say or think about my ideas and if they will buy-in to my perspective on any issue been discussed. Coventry University exposed me to self-confidence and the uniqueness of my perspectives during breakout sessions in class to deliberate on an issue. Maybe my lecturers felt it was a mere academic process or icebreaker, it was a time for me to accept myself and my opinions and allow people critic my views regardless of how they perceived my views. I also got to appreciate people views understand why they thought in that manner rather than treating their opinions without respect. Today, this helps me in the workplace with junior and senior colleagues as well as clients.

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