The Zeribe Nwosu Foundation (ZNF) has announced to be embarking on a mission to promote educational excellence in Nigeria.
The foundation was founded in 2021 by Dr. Zeribe Nwosu has assisted over 10 individuals to secure admission into top universities outside Nigeria, and these opportunities, in most instances, come with full funding.
Nwosu is trained as a medical laboratory scientist in Nigeria and is a cancer researcher whose work focuses on understanding the factors that enable the growth of pancreatic cancer.
However in his words, the ZNF is a means for him to give back to the society through education, mentorship and scholarship programmes, in addition to philanthropic initiatives.
He also said that he wants the foundation to reach out to people who have no one to put them through things.
“At the ZNF, we want to ensure that our activities reach people who could benefit, especially those who have no one advising them on how to surmount challenges on their career path. Most graduates leave the university not knowing how to navigate the next phase of their career or how to articulate their accomplishments. This leads to the loss of career time, underemployment, dissatisfaction with job or subsequent career choices, and an under appreciation of the efforts invested toward obtaining the university degree.
“The foundation is committed to solving these problems through various mechanisms, including by assembling and relying on passionate volunteers who use lessons from their own wealth of experience to enlighten others.”
“Among the foundation’s activities are the ZNF Monthly Seminar Series, Meet a Mentor Series, Zeribe Nwosu Scholarships, personal statements/statement of purpose review (for job, school, or scholarship applications), curriculum vitae review, assistance with mock interview, essay competition and response to questions from followers on Telegram.”
“We want people to know that we offer these services and free of charge. For example, the ZNF Seminar Series is a platform to share knowledge with our audience, answer practical questions that the seminar participants might have about other aspects of their career, and give advice. We have organised these seminars every month since mid-2021, covering topics such as preparing research data, how to write a personal statement, thesis editing, e-learning platforms, how to carry out literature review and growth mindset.
“Because education is a continuous process, our audience always learn something new in each of these seminars, irrespective of their level of education. ZNF will sustain this critical medium for community outreach. In addition, the mentorship initiatives have assisted those applying for studies, scholarships, or jobs, through suggestions on potential opportunities to pursue and guidance on how to succeed at interviews. This is complemented by a free application document editing service of which the foundation has provided feedback on over 200 documents so far. The foundation also maintains various social media platforms, mainly ‘Zeribe Nwosu Foundation – Group’ (Telegram), where opportunities are posted so that people could see such opportunities in time and apply before the deadline. Anyone from any part of the globe can participate in and benefit from these activities,” said the cancer researcher said.
The ZNF has also successfully implemented the Zeribe Nwosu Scholarship (ZNS) as a key instrument for advancing education. The foundation has a scholarship for students at the secondary school phase and a scholarship for students at the university phase. The secondary school scholarship pays registration fees for secondary school certificate- or university matriculation examinations, while the university phase, advertised every January 1, gives a one-time award to students to assist in expenditures such as school fees, house rent, laptop purchase and many others.
“We have created a fair, selective, and inclusive scholarship that considers both academic excellence and need. Owing to limited fund, this scholarship is currently open to students in Nigerian schools,” said Nwosu.
So far, the foundation has given financial support to 35 individuals. These include 14 secondary school students, several of whom have reported phenomenal results (in some cases multiple A1s and Bs in the secondary school certificate exams and an impressive university matriculation score of more than 290 against the official cut off mark of less than 150).
Nwosu said the foundation “hopes to impact lives, uplift families, and contribute to building societies and nations” by initiating impactful activities.
The researcher revealed that diversity, equity and inclusion are interesting concepts that the foundation is determined to entrench in its operations and it has demonstrated commitment to gender balance in its organisation and activities.
Nwosu stressed that except the scholarships, ZNF activities are open to anyone from any part of the world.
“We will always promote equal opportunity for all and strongly encourage education for women, especially through our scholarship initiatives,” he said. The scientist said the ZNF is also interested in collaboration and acknowledges that making significant progress requires collective efforts.
“The foundation welcomes supports, including but not limited to volunteering as a seminar presenter, mentor, sponsor of students through our scholarships, or helping to disseminate the foundation’s activities. Collectively, we all can work together to expose people to training opportunities, support them to grow professionally, and thereby equip them with the tools to solve future challenges,” Nwosu said.
