A group committed to mentoring and empowering young African students in fulfilling their dreams of pursuing graduate studies through access to fully-funded scholarships in world-class foreign universities, i-Scholar Initiative (iSI), has announced the names of 100 Nigerians who will benefit from its annual scholarship programme.
In a statement issued by the organisation’s Executive Secretary, Dr. Olufemi Fajolu, it noted that the release of the list followed a rigorous selection process coordinated by iSI’s operations Vice President, Mrs. Hanatu Banjoko.
He stated, “The awards offered by iSI will pay for standardised tests such as the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) and the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). Scores from the two tests are required by top universities in North America and Europe.”
For her part, iSI Scholar Initiative BoT Chair, Mrs. Tolu Ewherido, stated, “As an organisation, we have committed ourselves to building a pipeline filled with talented Nigerians whose capacities would be tapped for the needed development of the nation.”
Similarly, the scholarship scheme covers a predetermined amount of graduate school application fees and most importantly, an end-to-end mentoring program.
The group noted that in the last four years, more than 250 Nigerians have benefited from iSI scholarships.
Just as the total monetary amount of funded offers received by the Nigerians are in excess of $30 million, some of the beneficiaries have completed their education and are now working in various fields.
Ewherido added, “We need to broaden our reach in Nigeria and Africa. And to do this, we need access to more funding, so we need to expand our private me corporate donor base.”
Hence, a significant majority of Nigerians have gone ahead to receive fully funded offers of admission into various graduate programs in the USA and other Western countries.
In his remarks, iSI Scholar Initiative President, Victor Ogunmola, stated, “I echo the gratitude expressed by our BoT chair to all our stakeholders and especially, our donors.
“Without them, we can’t do any of what we are doing. So I won’t be mistaken to say that they are the engine that powers this organisation.”
In his keynote address to awardees, Femi Oshilaja charged the scholars to build agility by prioritising flexibility and adaptability in the journey to greatness and building processes that allow for rapid iteration and adjustment.
He advised that embracing new learning and emerging technology can help individuals to stay ahead of the curve in a fast-changing environment even as he canvassed for building resilience and prioritising collaboration with a diverse range of stakeholders.
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