From TONY JOHN, Port Harcourt
The Director, MTN Foundation, Mr. Reginald Okeya, has said the communication giant, MTN, is using its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to assist the less-privileged in the society, especially the blind, to achieve their academic fulfilment in life.
He disclosed this at the recent MTN Scholarships Blind Awardees for 2023, held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, with 300 blind and other indigent students benefitting from the scheme.
Okeya hinted that since the inception of the foundation, MTN has spent about N3 billion to assist families in training their children and wards study in tertiary institutions in Nigeria.
He said: “What you witnessed today is one of our projects and it has been ongoing for the past 10 years. It is a project that is targeted towards helping families that cannot afford tuition for their wards.
“It is our own way of giving back to the society. It is part of our Corporate Social Responsibility. So, every year, as a foundation, we set out certain amount of money for scholarships both for the blind and other students.
“For this one, we have them in batches. This batch is about 300 beneficiaries. It is mainly for science students, for normal and disabled students. They go through a process; we have a consultant that oversees this project.”
The MTN Foundation Director disclosed that beneficiary students are given N200,000 every semester until graduation, adding that awardees must maintain impressive grades throughout their stay in university.
Okeya continued: “What we give to the beneficiaries is N200,000 per person every semester untill you graduate. But, if you drop in your grade, we won’t continue with you. So far since inception, we have spent about N3 billion.”
