Media expert, Chude Jideonwo, has been named chair of the final selection committee of the 2021 undergraduate scholarship of the Alex Otti Foundation (AOF). Other members of the committee are Blossom Ozurumba, an Innovation Advisor and Strategic Partnerships Expert with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), and Jude Egbas, a Senior Editor with Pulse Nigeria. The committee will be making the last decision on who, among the scores of applicants in the final shortlist, gets to join the existing pool of beneficiaries of the prestigious scholarship.
Winners receive annual one-off funding from their selection year until the duration of their programme, irrespective of the course of study.
Speaking about this year’s selection committee, the Foundation’s Executive Director, Chinedu Ekeke, said the organization’s leadership is particular about the people it empanels to assess its prospective scholars, stating that their judges are usually outstanding individuals who, while they were still undergraduates themselves, excelled in academics and are also excelling in life. He said the idea is for the candidates, who are mostly young adults, to be inspired by the people they meet in the course of their interactions with the Foundation at any stage.
“For us, the choice of who is included among our judges is informed by the Foundation’s policy of wanting to inspire anyone who comes in contact with us at any stage. We want the candidates to leave the interview feeling pumped up for excellence. These individuals we have selected this year bring to the task that inspiration factor,” said Ekeke.
The interview will hold this weekend, as all shortlisted applicants have been contacted.
The scholarship scheme is one of the programmes of the Alex Otti Foundation, a non-profit organisation that extends opportunities for education and entrepreneurship to indigent members of society. It is among the most prestigious in Nigeria, attracting thousands of applications every year from suitably qualified undergraduate students who have come to trust it for the objectivity it employs in choosing winners.
Founded by Alex Chioma Otti (OFR), a financial expert and former bank CEO, the Alex Otti Foundation has been, for many years, at the forefront of advancing opportunities to the most deserving.
