Two hundred undergraduates of Eleme extraction have benefited from the 2026 scholarship scheme of the Josiah Olu Foundation, a philanthropic organisation in Rivers State.
Each of the beneficiaries received N100,000 in financial support at a special presentation ceremony held on Friday at Akpajo, Eleme Local Government Area of the state.
Founder of the foundation and former member representing Eleme Constituency in the Rivers State House of Assembly, Dr Josiah Olu, said the scholarship was an annual initiative designed to support intelligent and indigent students from Eleme to successfully pursue their tertiary education.
Olu said his personal experience of struggling financially to complete his education had given him a deep understanding of the challenges confronting many students from financially disadvantaged backgrounds.
According to him, the 200 beneficiaries were selected through a transparent process from more than 500 applications received for the scholarship.
He disclosed that the foundation planned to increase the number of beneficiaries from next year as part of efforts to extend its educational support to more young people from the area.
Olu urged the beneficiaries to justify the investment made in their education by remaining committed to their studies and striving for academic excellence.
He said the foundation’s intervention in education extended beyond tertiary institutions, noting that it also offered scholarships to secondary school students and provided financial assistance to Eleme indigenes studying at the Nigerian Law School.
He recalled that Nigerian Law School students from Eleme received N500,000 each from the foundation last year.
The foundation, he added, also operates an entrepreneurship programme aimed at empowering women of Eleme extraction and enabling them to become economically self-reliant.
The scholarship presentation was attended by prominent Eleme indigenes and other stakeholders, including the member representing Eleme, Tai and Oyigbo Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Hon. Felix Nwaeke, and the Executive Director, Projects, of the South-South Development Commission, Chief Marcus Nle Ejii.
