The new beneficiaries are Somtochukwu Benedicta Okaforwetife, second year law student at the University of Nigeria Enugu Campus (UNEC), who is from Umukwu in Obeagwu-Ozalla; Onyinyechi Cynthia Nweke, second year student of physiology at the Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki, from Umunnebe, Obeagwu-Ozalla; Adaora Treasure Okoye, second year student of Medical Rehabilitation (Physiotherapy) at the University of Nigeria Enugu Campus (UNEC), also from Umunnebe, Obeagwu-Ozalla; and Chinasa Ukata, third year student of Law at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University (NAU), Awka, from Enuguagu Ndi Uno, Etiti-Ozalla.

The awardees, known as PNF Scholars, are to receive the sum of two hundred thousand naira (N200,000) only each per session for the remainder of their undergraduate studies.

Presenting the new scholars at a ceremony in Ozalla on Saturday, Trustee and Chairman of the PNF Scholarship Committee, Pharm. Cyril Aninwike congratulated them on their success, emphasizing that their selection was made on the basis of merit.

“It was not an easy task selecting the winners from the pool of applicants. There’s no denying that this year’s applicants were among the brightest ever. We are excited about it and we regret not being able to take everyone, especially those who significantly exceeded our selection benchmarks.

“As you can see, the committee is so dedicated to merit that despite having many of us from Okorouba, no Okorouba applicant was chosen this year. Some of us didn’t have this opportunity. But we are happy that God is using some people to bring about this opportunity”, he stated.

Pharm Aninwike, who noted that three PNF Scholars would be graduating this year, expressed optimism that they would soon be among the scholars that would help the foundation flourish. He reminded them that in order to retain the scholarship, a scholar must continue to maintain a CGPA of 3.5/5.0 and above, in addition to behaving well and refraining from misconduct.

Also speaking, Prof. Ben Nwomeh, President of PNF, praised the Scholarship Committee for their meticulous work and said the foundation was favouring academic excellence in the beneficiary selection process, though strong cases of indigency would be taken into consideration without sacrificing the established standards.

Prof. Nwomeh, who was represented by a Trustee and Secretary of the foundation, Mr. Dan Nwomeh stated that based on the Scholarship Committee’s records, there were a total of 22 applicants, of whom only 3 were male, representing a paltry 13.6% of the applicants. The remaining applicants, on the other hand, were female, accounting for 86.3% of the applicants. He added that the fact that three of the four winners came from Obeagwu, two specifically from Umunnebe kindred, and one from Enuguagu demonstrated the foundation’s preference for merit over other considerations.

He described the recipients of the awards as “first class students,” pointing out that all of them had CGPAs higher than 4.00, while urging them to keep pursuing excellence in their chosen fields of study.

“I was speaking with one of the new awardees who conveyed her sincere appreciation to the foundation for the assistance in her situation. But the only appreciation the foundation asks for is to keep excelling.

“You no longer need to worry about how to pay your school fees because we always set aside enough funds to sustain your scholarship until graduation before we accept any set of scholars.

He announced that the Board of Trustees had approved the renaming of the foundation to Peter and Margaret Nwomeh Foundation (P&MNF), in honour of the wife of the late Mr Peter Nwomeh, Mrs Margaret Nwomeh, who passed away on February 25, 2024 and was to be buried on April 27, 2024, stressing that the new name would also apply to the United States affiliate, the PNF USA.

The President also announced that several events were being planned to mark the foundation’s tenth anniversary, which falls in December of this year. Nwomeh provided an overview of the foundation’s future course, stating that it may be necessary to raise the award amount, enhance endowment money to ensure the foundation’s long-term viability, and broaden its scope of work beyond scholarship grants.

On hand to present the scholarships to the new awardees were a Trustee, Chief B. C, Ugwu; another Trustee, Mrs. Angela Oguh (nee Nwomeh); a PNF Partner and donor, Chief Dennis Nweke; and Mr. Alfred Nwachukwu, the father of a former awardee, Malachi Ebuka Nwachukwu.

A total of One Million, Six Hundred Thousand Naira (N1,600,000) was disbursed to eight scholars, among them the older scholars who received their payments of N200,000 each for the current academic session. These were Gideon Nwande, final year student of Computer Engineering at the Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT) from Umuchukwu, Umuanee-Ozalla; Chidiogo Okorie, final year student of Pharmacy at the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN), from Umuogbuke, Umuanee-Ozalla; Chigozie Obinwani, final year student of Political Science at the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN), from Umuoha, Okorouba-Ozalla; and Chioma Okwy-Nweke, fifth year student of medicine at the University of Nigeria Enugu Campus (UNEC), from Ezzi, Etiti-Ozalla.

Responding, the new scholars gave remarks in which they expressed their happiness at being named as winners, and pledged to put in extra effort to live up to the trust placed in them. While Chinaza Ukata called her selection “a prayer answered”, as suggested by her name, Adaora Okoye and Somtochukwu Okaforwetife said that having applied for other scholarship programmes multiple times in the past without success, they were now certain that merit-based scholarship programmes are effective.

Also congratulating the new scholars, a graduating scholar, Chidiogo Okorie said it was a privilege to be counted as one of the beneficiaries. “Since I became a beneficiary, the foundation has never disappointed me. They always keep their promise of rewarding the scholars yearly. To the newest scholars, congratulations and welcome to the PNF family! I urge you to continue meeting the conditions in order to avoid being dropped along the line”, she said.