A registered charitable organisation in the US, i-Scholar Initiative has awarded scholarships to 50 Nigerians to write standardised tests required for graduate school applications including Graduate Record Examination (GRE), Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT), Test Of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and Law School Admission Test (LSAT).
The sponsorship also covers a predetermined number of application fees and end-to-end mentorship support through peer-peer mentoring, webinars/workshops etc.
The 50 beneficiaries were selected from a pool of 850 applications received across the country.
Speaking during the welcome/onboarding session for the 2021 i-Scholars, iSI Board of Trustees (BoT) member and former vice-chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Prof. Idowu Olayinka, in his keynote address noted that many Nigerians who wanted to study further abroad are face challenges financially and in the area of information.
Prof Olayinka said: “It is often the desire of many very ambitious, brilliant, bright and determined graduates from universities in Sub-Saharan Africa to proceed to world-class institutions in Europe, America and Asia to pursue graduate studies.
“This is not a new development. When I finished my Bachelor’s degree at the University of Ibadan some 40 years ago, I felt I needed to explore other climes for my (post) graduate study. Invariably, I went to the United Kingdom.
“Unfortunately, for many of our compatriots, this laudable desire is often hampered by lack of funding and inadequate information on the application procedure.
“It is in this regard that the i-Scholar Initiative has come to the rescue with its intervention to inspire the graduates over the last three years to pursue their ambitions.
“In 2019, a total of 20 scholars were sponsored. 15 of them are already accepted into fully funded various graduate programs in the USA and around the world with funding in excess of $2 million. Others are at different stages of their admission process.
“In 2020, a total of 50 eligible scholars are being sponsored. They were scheduled to write their tests between 2Q/3Q 2020 save for the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Olayinka added that between 2019 and 2020, a total of 70 scholars were supported with over $27,000 invested in addition to mentorship, adding that the scope of support increased further in 2021 to include payment of application fees in addition to the traditional GRE and TOEFL.
Also speaking at the event which took place on Zoom, the iSI President, Victor Ogunmola, said the initiative, since 2019, has provided continuous mentoring and career coaching, career progress tracking through college and post-college and networking opportunities for scholars.
He added that the project forms part of the initiative’s drive to build a younger and self-driven generation for future leadership, innovation and the overall development of Africa.
Ogunmola further said: “We are doing this for the next generation of leaders. We want to do more. We want to offer full scholarships, we want to sponsor visa fees, flight tickets and tuition.”
The Chairperson of iSI Board of Trustees (BoT), Tolulope Ewherido, charged the beneficiaries to be role models for the coming generation of young people, adding that “you have to pay it forward.”
Ewherido also thanked sponsors and volunteers whose activities and support have continued to yield results since 2019 when the organisation started.
One of the 2021 i-Scholars and first-class graduate of Chemistry from the Federal University of Lokoja, Joy Amadi, said: “I am grateful for the selection. It is a big win for me and I am so motivated. This will help me become a scientist and help me contribute my quota to the development of the country.”
Meanwhile, iSI also honoured seven students initially selected for the sponsorship but got funded by other organisations.
“When we made the announcement earlier, they were among the awardees but they got scholarships elsewhere and they informed us instead of taking advantage of the two grants.
“We are celebrating them because their decisions have given opportunities for more people to benefit,” Secretary of the initiative,” Femi Fajolu said.
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