Passion for Affecting Lives

MTN Nigeria is passionate about affecting the lives of Nigerians in positive ways through its several sponsored projects, especially the MTN MUSON Scholarship initiative that has been consistent since 2006, writes Emma Okonji

Since the inception of its commercial rollout of telecommunication services in Nigeria in 2001, MTN, the largest telecoms operator in Nigeria, in both subscriber number and market share, has positively affected the lives of many Nigerians, through the MTN Foundation (MTNF), that uses one per cent of MTN’s profit after tax in affecting the lives of Nigerians in three key areas: Mother and Child, Youth Empowerment, and Arts and Culture.

Through the MTN Foundation, the telecoms giant has affected the lives on many of its customers in Nigeria across diverse sectors like health, sports, education, entrepreneurship, and music, among others. But the most fascinating among its sponsored projects, is the passion and consistency of MTN in sponsoring 30 music students each year, for a two-year diploma programme in music, at the Musical Society of Nigeria (MUSON), since 2006.

MTN MUSON Scholarship

The Director, MUSON School of Music, Princess Banke Ademola, is one of the staff of the music institute that is very pleased with MTNF for its consistency in sponsoring 30 students each year since 2006 for a two-year Diploma programme in music.

Ademola, who in an interview, described MTN’s passion for promoting music in Nigeria as ‘Golden’, said the MTNF scholarship that was extended to students at the MUSON School of Music since 2006, had remained a game-changer for the beneficiaries, whom ordinarily would not have been able to fund their career in music.

“So much attention has been given by corporate organisatons for the support of sports, education, and tech startups, with little attention to music, which is a unifier and food of life, but MTN in its wisdom and passion for promoting music in Nigeria, accepted to sponsor students at the MUSON School of Music, and MTN, through the MTNF, has been consistent in the sponsorship since 2006. MTN is currently perceived by many as ‘Father Christmas’ for music sponsorship, because the beneficiaries who would not have had the opportunity to participate in the two years Diploma programme, now have such opportunity, which I see as golden opportunity provided by MTN,” Ademola said.

Speaking about the selection process, she said the process had always been transparent, through open advertisement, selection and examination before the final admission.

Giving details about the sponsorship, Ademola said the music institute approached MTNF in 2006 to help in sponsoring some students in its Diploma programe and that MTNF obliged and since then, had consistently sponsored students of the musical institute. “Every year, MTN sponsors 60 students, beginning with 30 students in year one and 30 students in year two for the two years Diploma programme in music. Since its inception in 2006, MTNF has sponsored 457 students that have successfully passed out of the MUSON School of Music and they are now Alumni of the Music School. Many of the Alumni have gone for further studies in various universities in Nigeria and abroad and many are doing well in the music industry in Nigeria and abroad. Based on the foundation that we built for them during their Diploma programme at the MUSON School of Music, those that further their studies, found it extremely easy to cope at the university level, both in Nigeria and abroad,” Ademola said in the interview.

Scholarship Package

Giving details of the total package of the MTN MUSON Scholarship, Ademola said “the scholarship covers tuition fees, books and transportation for two years.” According to her, MTNF signs an annual contractual agreement with MUSON for the scholarship and MTNF has been meeting up with the contractual agreement since 2006. Although she did not disclose the exact amount released by MTNF every year for the sponsorship, she however said the money had always been sufficient to cover the tuition fee, cost of books and cost of transportation of the beneficiaries for the two years Diploma programme.

Impact

Speaking about the impact of the scholarship on the music students since 2006, Ademola reiterated that 457 students have benefitted from the sponsorship since 2006, a development she said, continued to inspire young and talented Nigerian youths to take a career in music. The number of applications we receive each year is overwhelming and the number keeps increasing, a development that has made MTNF to extend the number of sponsorship from 30 to 40, beginning from this year, Ademola said.

“Our training programme covers basic training in music, control of musical instruments like the piano, saxophone, drum set, flute and guitar, including teaching methodology, public speaking, and stage performance, among others. Before a student graduates from the MUSON School of Music, such student is able to carry out two concerts on their own, one in year one and another in year two, and these are embedded in the curriculum that we teach the students. At the end of the programme, we offer Diploma Certificate to all graduating students. The training we give to the students, exposes them to the world of music and many of them are doing well both in Nigeria and abroad. Some who went for further studies, and returned to Nigeria after their studies, are teaching in the MUSON School of Music, Ademola said.

Beneficiaries’ Experience

President of MUSON Diploma Students Association (MUDISTA), Gabriel Oluwafemi Adebayo who also spoke in an interview on behalf of other beneficiaries, revealed that most of the beneficiaries were roadside musicians and members of church choir before enrolling as music students at MUSON.

According to him, he is passionate about music, but thought he was champion in music as a street musician before his actual exposure to music after enrolling at MUSON.

According to him, qualification for enrolment is Grade 5 Theory and Grade 5 Practical from a recognized music training institute, including five credits in O’ Level School Certificate Examination, which must include English Language.

Thanking MTNF for the opportunity to study at the MUSON School of Music, Adebayo said the MUSON School of Music remained the only institution of music that is offering standardized training in music. “I attended the MUSON Basic school of Music, which was self sponsored before enrolling for the Diploma in Music that is sponsored by MTNF. At the MUSON Basic School of Music, 30 minutes lecture is charged at N50,000, while One hour lecture is N80,000. But MTNF is sponsoring some students including myself for the two years Diploma programme and we are grateful to MTNF for the sponsorship, which covers our tuition fee, cost of books and transportation for the duration of the Diploma programme, which is two years.

I am in my second year and I have benefitted so much from the MTNF sponsorship, just the same way with other beneficiaries.

“Before enrolling for the Diploma programme, I was a roadside musician and then I thought I was champion in music, until I enrolled and was thought basic thongs in music that I did not know before.  I have never played classical music since I started singing but I have learnt it at the MUSON school of music and I have also learnt to perform on stage with much ease. So for me, the training at MUSON has exposed me a lot and I am going to build on the knowledge to do great exploits,” Adebayo said.  

MTNF Focus

Executive Secretary, MTN Foundation, Odunayo Sanya, who spoke about the focus and target of MTNF, said the music industry had been neglected in the past, with so much attention given to the development of emerging technologies and sports development. She however said the focus for MTNF, in terms of its partnership with MUSON School of Music, was to raise the standard of people that are venturing into music by offering them the support that would make then excel in music.

“To raise a balanced society, I think there is need to support music and the study of music in Nigeria in order to give Nigerian youths that are in love with music, the opportunity to live up to their dreams. Some students come to MUSON to study music after graduating from the university, just because of the quality of training given at the MUSON,” Sanya said.

On the review of the MTNF MUSON scholarship project, Sanya said as a policy, MTNF would review all its projects to find out the viability and sustainability of the projects. According to her, in the course of project review, MTNF has dropped some projects it initially started for obvious reasons and have also upgraded some projects and inject more funds into them because such projects have proven to be viable and accomplishing the objective for which the sponsorship was set out for. Giving instance with the MTNF MUSON scholarship project, Sanya said the project had been consistently reviewed since inception and found out that the project had affected the lives of several Nigerian youths, who kept applying for the yearly scholarship initiative. Based on the positive effect of the MTNF MUSON scholarship project, on the lives of Nigerian youths, we have decided to continue with the project and even expand its scope and its funding,” Sanya said.    

MTN as a brand is clear on one thing that the brand is an agent of transformation. As a group, we can go together. So in any community where we operate, we always impact the community because we believe that everyone in every community where we operate, deserves the benefit of a modern connected life, such that through MTN, people can actualize their dreams, Sanya further said. 

Other MTNF Scholarships

Recently, MTN Foundation (MTNF), through its annual scholarship initiative, has awarded scholarships to 360 undergraduate Nigerian students in addition to 651 current scholars, totalling 1,011 scholars.

The awardees were celebrated at award ceremonies held in Port Harcourt, Lagos and Abuja. Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Taxation and Revenue, Abdulkabir Ogungbo, Vice Chancellor, Rivers State University, Professor Nlerum Okogbule, Chairman, House Committee on Telecommunications, Honourable Peter Akpatason and other notable dignitaries were present at the different ceremonies. 

The annual scholarships recognise and reward high-performing students in Nigerian public tertiary institutions. They are usually presented to three categories of students – undergraduates in science and technology-related courses; blind students in any field of study and the top 10 candidates of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) in Nigeria. Through this initiative, 4,590 Nigerian students have received scholarships valued at N 3 billion in the last 12 years. 

Speaking at the Lagos event, the Chairman of MTN Foundation, Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi, said: “This initiative was established with the belief that every individual – regardless of background or socio-economic status – deserves the opportunity to pursue their dreams through education, which has a profound impact on shaping minds, fostering innovation and driving societal change.

“It is imperative to empower the next generation of trailblazers, problem solvers and African visionaries. This is why we support blind students, top 10 UTME candidates and top-performing STEM students by facilitating access to education and providing tools and resources to help them thrive academically and professionally.”

Deputy Governor, Lagos State, Dr. Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, in his speech delivered by Special Adviser to the Governor of Lagos State on Taxation and Revenue, Abdulkabir Ogungbo, commended the Foundation for its commitment to contribution to the development of its host communities.

He said, “I am delighted with the level of commitment of MTN to contributing to the growth and development of its host communities in terms of human and infrastructure development. Today’s ceremony, awarding scholarships to deserving recipients and the induction of past beneficiaries into the scholarship alumni, is a commendable gesture and indicative of their corporate social responsibility.

“Indeed, I commend the Board, Management and Staff of MTN Foundation for keeping faith with their mandate of empowering the youth and promoting academic excellence in public tertiary institutions over the past decade. You have done well, and I urge you not to relent in your pursuit of the promotion of excellence. You have been worthy development partners and stakeholders with government and together we will continue to push the agenda of development and growth in our society.”

As part of the MTN Scholarship programme, blind scholars are supported with JAWS screen reader software (authorised licences) and graduating scholars also participate in an employability workshop called “Skill Up!” which is designed to equip them with skills required for the world of work. This year, MTN Foundation partnered the Project Management Institute (PMI) for a two-week virtual workshop, preparing the 2023 graduates with skills in agile project management.