NEWS (The Sun) – Prof Ifediora, OCI Foundation: 8 Years Turning Brilliant Poor Students Into Doctors, Engineers, Teachers, Other Professionals (1/1/2025)

Courtesy: The Sun News

Link: https://thesun.ng/prof-ifediora-oci-foundation-8-years-turning-brilliant-poor-students-into-doctors-engineers-teachers-other-professionals/.

January 1, 2025 – by Enyeribe Ejiogu

With the arrival of 2025, a new dawn has broken for brilliant, 17-year-old Jesse Ibezim (real name concealed) as he and his family make final preparations for him to go to Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, to study at the tertiary institution, which has risen very fast in global, African and national academic rankings, driven by the pursuit of excellence, instituted by the immediate past Vice Chancellor, Prof Okechukwu Charles Esimone, during his five years tenure.

Though the teenager feels a little bit worried about the current financial status of his family, he is, however, reposing hope in God that all will go well and he can settle down to the rigour of life as an undergraduate student. Ibezim, incidentally, was admitted on merit for Medicine and Surgery, a very competitive course.

While playing some favourite songs stored on his Android phone, apparently to buoy up his spirit and keep his mind focused on what lies ahead rather than the deprivations brought on by the present financial inadequacy of the family, he holds his head high as he packs his few new clothes, boxer shorts, casual shorts, curtains for his hostel room, slip-on footwear (the kind youngsters call pams), one pair fancy sneakers and toiletries into a medium size suitcase. With loving care, his mother had earlier packed the little stock of foodstuff bought for him, with a promise to send more at the end of January, through the cargo service of GUO Motors, a popular inter-state passenger service.

Ibezim fits the profile of students, who can obtain academic scholarships from OCI Foundation International, established by Professor Onyebuchi Chris Ifediora, a native of Nsugbe, Anambra State. Beneficiary students who receive the scholarships after competitive qualifying tests and interviews enjoy the offer at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka and other tertiary educational institutions, where they are referred to as CYFED scholars. OCI Foundation International currently operates in Nigeria, United Kingdom and Australia with more locations planned to take off in the near future.

For brilliant and indigent students caught in the grips of misery and despair, struggling to pay tuition fees to remain in school and complete their education, OCI Foundation has been a beacon of hope, bridging the gulf of financial lack and enabling them to benefit from tertiary education in their chosen fields.

The foundation was set up in 2016 by the erudite professor of Family Medicine, who is a lecturer in Griffiths University, Queensland, Australia, where he also runs a medical practice, using his earned income to give brilliant students from financially challenged families the opportunity for good education and a descent place under the sun. The intervention programmes of the foundation are focused mainly on education, health and a bit of social welfare.

Take the case of Prosper Chinonso Madubuko, who in 2019 got the scholarship award, which was a lifeline he desperately needed to pay the tuition fees that enabled him study and get a degree in Education Biology at Nwafor Orizu College of Education, Nsugbe, Nigeria, which is affiliated to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria. While in senior secondary school in 2017, Prosper qualified and was sponsored as an IFOMSSA scholar. Securing a tertiary education scholarship understandably made him gush with gratitude, describing the organization as “wonderful and generous,” adding: “Your generosity is allowing me to make my goals and dream a reality by making me one of the recipients of 2019 CYFED Undergraduate Scholarship.

 “You have lightened my financial burden, and this allows me to focus more on the most important aspect of school, learning. On behalf of my family and myself, I pour out my humble thanks to OCI Foundation. For this wonderful act of kindness, you have my deepest gratitude. I hope one day, I will be able to help students achieve their goals, just as you have helped me.”

 Similarly, Naomi Celestina Oforjama, who studied Science Laboratory Technology at Federal Polytechnic, Oko, Anambra State, Nigeria declared herself “so blessed and honoured” stating that the generous scholarship award had lightened her financial burden and inspired her “to help others, give back to the community to enable other students achieve their goals and dreams” when she becomes successful.”

Electrical and Electronics Engineering is the flagship undergraduate degree programme of Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Imo State. It is also the toughest course run by the university and only intellectually indomitable students go through it successfully. In 2017, Kelvin Kosiso Amakom, an indigent but brilliant student was awarded a CYFED undergraduate scholarship. He appreciatively noted the scholarship scheme would “go a long way to ensure equal rights to education for all,” adding: “Words cannot just explain how happy and lifted I feel to be one of the latest CYFED scholars. I am extremely elated to be a beneficiary of this honourable scholarship scheme. I really thank God for this wonderful opportunity. My sincere prayer for this Foundation is that, as it has set out to lift the indigent masses and give them opportunities to see the four-walls of universities, they too will never stop rising. The organization and the initiator will rise to even greater heights that they have ever imagined. Amen.”

In 2019, another beneficiary, Victor Chinonso Oforka scaled through the competitive winnowing process and got a scholarship to study Industrial Chemistry at the Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Uli in Anambra State, Nigeria. Two years earlier, while in secondary school, he was chosen as an IFOMSSA senior scholar.

 “This scholarship is an absolute answer to prayers, as life does not always go as we plan. I know that the Lord always has things in His control, and I believe He used you all to bless me in a time of need. I will forever be grateful for this gift, and I cannot thank you enough for that. Jeremiah 29:11 says it best,” Oforka said.

When you look into the hearts of Kingdom Alexander Okafor (Computer Engineering, Yaba College of Technology, Lagos, Nigeria), Lazarus Ogechukwu Akwaeze (Philosophy and Religion, St. Alberts Institute for Higher Education, Kaduna, Nigeria, affiliated to the University of Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria), Victoria Oluchukwu Okonkwo (Computer Engineering, Federal Polytechnic, Oko, Anambra State, Nigeria), Michael Chinedu Udenze (Surveying and Geo-Informatics, Federal Polytechnic, Oko, Anambra State, Nigeria), Bernard Okafor (Soil Science, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria) and Nebechi Grace Ezennaya (Applied Microbiology and Brewing, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria, and many others whose lives have been touched and impacted by the benevolence of OCI Foundation International, you will find joy and happiness, restoration of hope, inspiration to excel in academics and succeed in life so that they can also help other people and give back to society.

The desire to give back is at the core of the various intervention initiatives of the foundation, which is guided by the slogan, “We Rise by Lifting Others.” The slogan, which was created by Prof Ifediora and perfected in its present form by his wife, has been the fulcrum of its activities.

In a very real way, you feel and connect with what Michael Chinedu Udenze, said about the CYFED award he got in 2017, which enabled him to study Surveying and Geo-Informatics at Federal Polytechnic, Oko, Anambra State, Nigeria. He said: “The OCI Foundation has made an indelible mark in my life.”

Interestingly, Ifediora is an alumnus of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, where he studied Medicine and Surgery and got a distinction in Pathology. He is a specialist in Family Medicine which he settled into after obtaining a Master’s degree and completing the specialty training in Britain and Australia. He is also an alumnus of Harvard University and currently a professor at Griffith University. He is a Fellow of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners.

When he served in Oyo State for the compulsory national youth service, he emerged the second best corpsmember. OCI offers full scholarships (covering four to six years) to enable qualified brilliant students to become doctors, engineers, accountants and educators according to the duration of their courses.

Under its health intervention programmes, OCI has been funding breast and cervical cancer awareness through NYSC corpsmembers across the country. The awareness programme has been incorporated into the secondary school curriculum in Anambra State by state law. Meanwhile, the National Assembly is on the verge of passing a Bill to make the law applicable in all secondary schools across the country. He is an indigene of Nsugbe, Anambra State.

“We take in five scholarship recipients every year. We renew it every year as long as your CGPA does not drop below 3.00.  And for those in the medical school, they must not fail the MBBS examinations in the applicable years,” Ifediora said, explaining the rigorous process beneficiaries go through to get the scholarship awards.

“OCI has produced several graduates in different fields while many others are in the process in different years, from prelim to the sixth year in Medicine and Surgery, five years for engineering and four years for other courses. It has been an interesting journey. We have had an accountant graduate. A priest graduated from a seminary. So we have a couple of engineers and educational professionals. We have three or four doctors on the scheme. Then there is Literary Award for Medical Students (LAMS), which is exclusive to medical students across the country – it is not limited to Anambra indigenes. We try to inspire them to develop literary and research skills. These are two major tools that will help them succeed in their career as doctors. It has been a great journey and we hope to expand the number of recipients.”

Like Jimmy Cliff, the Jamaican reggae singer, sang in his popular song, Who Feels It Knows It, Ifediora’s personal experience of difficulty in paying school fees became part of the motivation for setting up the scholarship scheme. He explains: “The education aspect was because as a student my father was not particularly rich. He did the best he could. The demands were too many, because we lost our mother early and he had to take care of five children. It was a heavy burden on him and I never had as much as I needed. What that meant was that there was constant threat to my education. I faced that threat firsthand when I got into school. Thanks to my father, I went to the Special Science School, Ihe, Awgu, Enugu State; it was a school for brilliant chaps. It was a collection of brilliant children, but many of them never went to the university. It reminded me of how lucky I was that I had a father who was able to get me through. But it also brought home to me a lot of the things that our people face. A lot of people have dropped out of school, not because they were not brilliant or interested in going to school, but because the funds were not available.”