i-Scholar Initiative offers 100 Nigerians scholarship awards, mentorship

The i-Scholar Initiative (iSI) on Monday announced the names of 100 Nigerians that will benefit from the 2024 edition of its annual scholarship programme.

In a statement issued by the organisation’s executive secretary, Dr Olufemi Fajolu, the release of the list followed a rigorous selection process coordinated by the organisation’s vice-president, Mrs Hanatu Banjoko.

“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,” said the organisation’s chair of the board of trustees, Mrs Tolulope Ewherido. “As always, I’m extremely grateful to all our volunteers and donors for partnering with us on this mission.”

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.

The scholarship also covers a predetermined amount of graduate school application fees and most importantly, an end-to-end mentoring programme.

According to the statement, more than 250 Nigerians have benefited from iSI scholarships over the last four years with a significant majority of them receiving fully funded offers of admission into various graduate programmes in the USA and other western countries.

It disclosed that the total monetary amount of funded offers received by the graduate scholars is in excess of $30 million, adding that some of them have completed their education and are now working in various fields.

“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,” the iSI president, Victor Ogunmola, was quoted as saying.

It was also learnt that the new awardees will soon receive invitations to join iSI’s platforms, and will be onboarded into the organisation during an official event that will take place later in June.