100 Orphaned Students Benefit from MCF’s Three-year Scholarship

Segun Awofadeji in Bauchi

100 senior secondary one to three (SS 1-3) students from five schools in Abuja have been awarded a three-year scholarship by MATINAAH Care Foundation (MCF).
The vulnerable students now have their school fees covered from SS1 to SS3. Others in SS2 and SS3 will benefit for the duration of their time in school.
The benefiting students were selected from five Government Secondary Schools (GSS): Aleita, 15 students; Garki, 40 students; Tudun Wada, 15 students; Wuse One, 15 students; and Wuye, 15 students.
A 2025 global estimate stated that 151 million children aged 0-17 have lost one or both parents, with about 39 per cent of the world’s orphans living in Sub-Saharan Africa, and Nigeria accounts for approximately 17.5 million of these orphans.
In response to the needs of these vulnerable children, MATINAAH Care Foundation says it is intervening to provide care and education for the selected children, even though it would have done so for more if resources were available.
Pastor Ibrahim Magadi, one of MCF’s directors, said the support is intended to bring succour and help the orphans achieve their dreams in life, pointing out during an interactive session with the students over the weekend that “MCF is assuring these vulnerable, marginalised, persecuted and abandoned children of its support within the organisation’s limited resources”.
Dr Julie Jonathan, a physician and lifestyle enthusiast, stated that students who have lost their parents should view their circumstances not as a defining identity, but as an experience through which they can move from trauma towards resilience.
Dr Ado Shuaibu, who represented the Director/Secretary of the Federal Capital Territory Secondary Education Board (FCT-SEB), commended MCF for supporting education and improving the welfare of children and young adults.
He reiterated that education remains a powerful instrument for personal development, social transformation and national progress.
Also encouraging students, Dr Cyril Efre, a senior manager at the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (UPRC), said in a paper on discipline, excellence and success that students attend the same school and take the same examination but achieve different results. According to him, the difference is not just intelligence or lack of connection, but discipline and how individuals use the same 24 hours available to them each day.
Nnenna Sylvia Philips, a nutritionist, encouraged the students to nourish their future through food choices that support academic performance and excellence. She restated that the brain needs nourishment and recommended balanced meals containing energy-giving foods, foods that support body and brain development, brain-boosting fats, seeds for stamina, leafy greens, fruits, and other plant-based foods. She also highlighted water and sleep as vital to peak academic performance.