When Damilare Ishola, a 200-level student of Guidance and Counselling at the University of Lagos, talks about his journey, his voice carries both the weight of pain and the strength of survival.
He said his life changed the day he tried to stop a man from beating a woman.
“I was just trying to separate them,” he recalls. “The next thing I realised was that an umbrella got into my right eye.”
Years later, another tragedy struck during a political clash. “I never knew there was a fight. A shard of a bottle, I don’t know where it came from, hit my left eye,” he said. That blow left him completely blind.
“At first, it was very tough. I felt rejected and abused. I stayed at home for four years, not knowing what to do.”
Coming from a poor background, continuing his education felt impossible. “My parents are very poor. They struggled to sponsor me for the 100 level,” he explains.
Hope returned when Ishola discovered the MTN Foundation Scholarship for Blind Students. He recalled that when he heard that MTN was sponsoring blind students, he put more effort into his academics. Before he knew it, his name was listed.”
“With MTN’s help, my condition remarkably improved. I don’t even think I’m blind anymore. I do things the way everyone else does. I’m getting there,” he said.
For Opeyemi Adewale Kikelemo, the lights went off at 14. On that fateful day, she lost her sight while watching television with her friends. It was so sudden.
Read also: MTN Foundation awards 368 Nigerian students with scholarships
However, doctors told her that she could still regain her sight. But in the interim, she was handed a cane to help her walk. Not long after, Opeyemi sat for the NECO and JAMB examinations and passed both in flying colours.
During her time at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Opeyemi was lucky to meet friends who gave her tips on being visually handicapped. One of them told her about the MTN Foundation’s Scholarship Scheme For Blind Students (MTNF SSBS), which she applied for. She was awarded a scholarship.
“I was fortunate to be a beneficiary of the MTN scholarship. Life was much easier. I could get what I wanted. In fact, that’s the proper definition of support,” Opeyemi said.
After graduation, the visually impaired lady applied and got a job as a graduate intern at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), a multinational professional services network of firms. Opeyemi’s mother still could not believe it whenever her daughter gave her a monthly allowance from her salary. “We are living comfortably because my daughter is okay,” the old woman said.
Now living the dream of every mother, which is to see their children blossom beyond their imagination, Opeyemi’s mother wonders if her daughter would have had that kind of opportunity without MTN’s support.
For Favour Anthony, a 300-level University of Jos student studying Special Education and Rehabilitation Science. Before admission into the university, she was bubbling with life, and everything seemed to work perfectly for her. At some point, she had the opportunity to work with special needs people and even enjoyed the affection she got from working with them.
However, fate played a cruel one on her in 2020 when she lost her sight due to poor handling of the eye problem by the hospital.
“I read my admission letter with my two eyes in 2019. It was when I was to resume school that the whole problem started in 2020. I had a retinal detachment, and there was medical manhandling by the hospital,” Anthony said. “I have done like four different surgeries, and it has led to the problem.”
She explained that she decided to study special education and rehabilitation science because that is where her passion lies. “Before I became visually impaired, I worked with special people and loved them. Little did I know that something like that would happen to me. When I lost my sight completely, it was as if all hope was lost, but it actually made it easier for me to adapt.”
She said that despite the increase in school fees from N45,000 to more than 100,000, the scholarship has helped her to pay her school fees and accommodation, as well as registration.
Anthony noted that since her father is retired and her mother is engaged in petty trading, the scholarship has helped relieve them of the financial burden.
“I have three other siblings, and four of us are in the university, so this scholarship has relieved the burden on my parents,” added the student. “I was determined, and I told myself that if others are making it, I can also make it. If you have the passion, a way will be opened, and a direction and inspiration will come through.”
She advised the foundation to keep up the good work, as they have been able to impact lives, adding that since they are offering the scholarship to STEM students and persons with visual impairment, they should add other persons with other clusters of impairment, such as physically challenged persons and people with hearing impairment, among others.
MTN Foundation’s 15-year impact on education
Currently in its 15th year, the MTN Foundation has continued to ensure that the higher education and future aspirations of brilliant students are not truncated due to financial constraints. The Foundation does this through its annual science and technology scholarship, scholarship for blind students, and scholarship for the top 10 candidates in the unified tertiary matriculation examination.
With the harsh economic situation in the country, many brilliant youths who desire higher education are denied access due to inadequate funds.
According to 2024 data from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the number of out-of-school children in Nigeria stands at 18.3 million.
It noted that this alarming figure positions Nigeria as the country with the highest number of out-of-school children globally.
Such a challenge is gradually being addressed through the award of scholarships to deserving students to enable them to acquire higher education.
MTN Foundation is closing that gap with its scholarship award. Annually, up to 360 new scholarships are included in the initiative, with old scholarships renewed based on ongoing academic performance, and since its inception, the MTN scholarship initiative has awarded 5,349 scholars with 14,700 scholarships worth more than N3 billion.
In 2025, the MTN Foundation awarded 368 students annual scholarships worth N300,000 each under the Scholarship Scheme.
At the 2025 Scholarship Award and Alumni Induction Ceremony held at the Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre, Abuja, Odunayo Sanya, the Executive Director of the MTN Foundation, said the initiative was aimed at recognising and rewarding academic excellence.
Sanya said, “Our scholarship programme celebrates excellence, resilience, and purpose. At MTN Foundation, we recognise that talent exists everywhere, and through our continued investment in education, we are ensuring that no brilliant mind is left behind.”
She urged the beneficiaries to maintain high academic standards to retain the scholarship.
“Every scholar represents our belief in the power of knowledge to transform lives and communities. We encourage all students to continue to work hard to sustain the scholarship, so the Foundation doesn’t drop you if your CGPA drops,” she added.
The Foundation also inducted the new set of awardees into its alumni network, designed to connect scholars with career and mentorship opportunities.
What to know about the MTN scholarship for the Blind
Since its inception in 2012, the MTN Foundation Scholarship for Blind Students (MTN SBS) has been dedicated to supporting eligible blind students in 200-300 level students with the required Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 2.5 or its equivalent across Nigerian public tertiary institutions, including universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education.
MTN Nigeria started this scholarship programme as part of their Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR) to promote inclusive education but also as a means to level the playing field and remove barriers and provide opportunities to students with disabilities, especially those living with visual impairments.
Each year, the Foundation selects up to 100 blind students for the award, an increase from the 60 offered previously. The scholarship provides N300,000 annually to each beneficiary, renewed until graduation for students who maintain the required grades. The funds cover school fees, study materials, accommodation support, and assistive technologies.
The application process takes place entirely online through the MTN Foundation portal. Students create an account, fill out the required fields, and upload essential documents, including their academic transcript, passport photograph, and a medical certificate confirming visual impairment. Once submitted, applications are screened for academic performance and authenticity before final selections are made. For a community that often faces bureaucratic hurdles, the digital nature of the process makes it notably accessible.
More importantly, the programme is shifting attitudes about what blind scholars can achieve. By enabling them to participate fully in the digital economy, from coding to research to creative fields, the MTN Foundation is helping to rewrite expectations and dismantle educational barriers that once felt immovable.
