MTN spends N1bn on scholarship

 

 

Corporate Social Responsibility vehicle for MTN Nigeria Communications Limited, MTN Foundation, says it has disbursed more than N1bn on scholarship to more than 5000 students across the country.

The Executive Secretary of the Foundation, Nonny Ugboma, disclosed this at the fifth edition of the award of scholarship to high-performing science and technology students in the Northern part of the country.

The ceremony, which held in Abuja, also marked the third edition of the award of scholarship to visually impaired students.

Ugboma said since the inception of both programmes, more than 5,000 students scattered across the country had benefited from the programmes while the foundation had spent over N1bn on the programmes in five years.

According to her, this year alone, the foundation will be awarding scholarships to 1,205 high-performing science and technology students and 167 brilliant blind students across the country.

She said, “Today, we are formally presenting scholarship awards to 66 brilliant Nigerian students in public tertiary institutions in the Northern zone. This comprises 43 science and technology students and 23 blind students.

“In the next week, on December 9 to be precise, we will also be in Lagos, where successful students in the South-West region will receive their scholarships. The turn of the Eastern region has been held.

“Our impact goes beyond statistics and figures to shaping Nigeria’s future through education; to making an investment in the lives of tomorrow’s leaders, by providing them with an opportunity to pursue their dreams despite financial limitations.”

The beneficiaries will continue to benefit every year if they maintain the required Cumulative Grade Point Average. Each of the beneficiaries receives N200, 000 each year they qualify for the scholarship.

In a related development, the foundation says it has distributed wheelchairs, crutches, hearing aids, Braille machines, talking phones and wristwatches to 19,000 across the country living with one form of disability or the other.

Ugboma disclosed this at the commemoration of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities in Abuja last week.

She said the foundation inaugurated its Disability Support Project in 2009 in order to empower people with physical disability by providing them with mobility aid and appliances to enhance their independence, and improve accessibility and functionality.