In this exclusive interview, Ajah Excel, leader at Silicon Africa and convener of the Social Media Fest (SM Fest), shares his inspiring journey, the transformative impact of the MTN Foundation Scholarship, and his ambitious vision for the future of SM Fest.
Tell us about yourself
My name is Ajah Excel, I lead a team at Silicon Africa and I also convene the Social Media Fest (SM Fest).
Talking about Social Media Fest (SM Fest), you started this initiative 4 years ago, can you tell us what inspired this?
The story of Social Media Fest (SM Fest) is one of denial-thought opportunity because we had planned to host Social Media Week and we weren’t getting any response and that led us to the decision to brand our own event and today, it has become what it is, YES!
Can you tell us a bit of your academic journey; What challenges did you face and how did you overcome them?
My story around contact with the MTN Foundation is one I will be happy to tell every now and then. As a student of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), I faced a great challenge in trying to further my education.
Getting to pay my tuition fee was really very hard, to the point where I had to call my secondary school to help me pay my year one fee. The vice principal told me that the principal who knew me had gone, and the current one was the third one in a row I told the vice principal to help narrate my story and she did. That woman paid my school fees in year one.
The second year came with the same challenge, but that was when I got the light of MTN Foundation through the platform where I read about scholarships. I applied and having been the best student in year one, qualified for the scholarship after writing the exams.
This was the major challenge I faced which would have stopped my progress but the MTNF scholarship came through for me.
How would you describe your reaction when you found out that you have been selected for the MTN Foundation Scholarship?
It was a funny reaction. I was eating in the school cafeteria when I got the message and initially thought it was probably one of the regular ‘Please call me’ messages.
Then I checked and got confirmation that I had won the MTN Foundation Scholarship worth ₦200,000 (Two Hundred Thousand Naira). I was so excited and remember asking the food seller to put meat on my food and the people around were surprised cause they didn’t know what actually happened.
How did the scholarship motivate you during your study?
The scholarship was a great motivation for me in the sense it validated my struggles to get a high CGPA as it was the first step to qualifying for the scholarship, then it became a process.
To continue receiving the scholarship annually, I had to maintain a certain CGPA and generally, a high level of academic excellence so as not to lose the award and its benefits. It served as a strong motivation for me to focus and get good results. I had to ensure that my results were above 3.5 CGPA till graduation.
What other roles did the MTN Foundation Scholarship play in your growth apart from financial support?
The scholarship gave me the time to focus on my studies. It greatly relieved the stress of worrying about my tuition fees and I was able to focus on my studies. Also, it gave me the leisure to help other people and build the brand that I have today.
What was your proudest moment during your university years?
Most of my proudest moments were moments where I saw students who couldn’t afford their tuition fees win scholarships. I became a scholarship ‘evangelist’ in the university after I got the MTN Foundation scholarship.
By the time I left, I had over 1,000 students in FUTO win scholarships due to the motivation I got from mine and the assistance I offered from preparing them to physically taking them to where they write the exams. I would say that their success stories were my proudest moments.
Any Extracurricular activities?
I was involved in a number of extracurricular activities. I started a news media agency called Infoscope with my team and friends. The media agency is still running as we handed it over to some students who continued it after we graduated.
The media team has metamorphosed into Infoscope TV and it is currently partnering with my current brand. That was one of the major extracurricular activities that I was engaged in at that time.
What message would you have for current or future scholarship beneficiaries?
To aspirants of the MTN Foundation scholarship, I would advise they focus on their studies as it’s their qualification to be enlisted in the scholarship scheme. So, they should focus on their studies and get good results. It saves them the struggle when the scholarship opportunity shows itself.
For those who are already on the scholarship awards, it is important that you focus on your studies and ensure you are able to make your benefactor proud because the greatest reward to MTN is your success.
How do you think the MTN Foundation scholarship is helping to change the future of young students?
I am evidence of how the MTN Foundation is helping to shape the future of young Nigerians.
I have benefitted from it, and it is actually showing today. I know there are a lot of other people who have different areas and sectors in their life who have also received that and their life has been shaped. So, MTN Foundation is doing a lot already.
Talking about SM Fest, how do you envision the impact of SM Fest in the next few years?
A lot of testimonies are already out there as a result of the event and conference; we envision the conference becoming a global brand, impacting the lives of young people and helping them find direction as well as helping creatives to leverage the digital economy to access global opportunities.
So, Social Media Fest (SM Fest) is on a trajectory to that global stage and I know that the partnership with MTN Nigeria is one of the things that will drive that at this time.
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