Former Chairman, Board of Trustees of
the Musical Society of Nigeria, Chief Femi Williams, has lauded the MTN
Foundation for collaborating with the MUSON School of Music in the last
six years to help indigent Nigerians realise their dreams in music
education.
This collaboration, Williams said, was
being done under the MTNF/MUSON scholarship initiative for poor but
musically-gifted Nigerians.
Williams, who was the guest speaker at
the graduation of the sixth set of beneficiaries of the MTNF/MUSON
Scholars programme in Lagos, said the support provided for the students
by the MTN Foundation had positively impacted their lives.
“I don’t know how we could have done
without MTN Foundation in all these years. Each year, the quality of the
performance of the students has been an improvement on that of the
preceding year. Therefore, the sky is yet your limit. MTN Foundation,
you will agree with me that your investment in these young Nigerians
have been money well spent. We are certain about this because we know
the training we have imparted together with your generous assistance,”
he said.
He charged the graduating students on
the need to be focused, original, creative and innovative, saying these
factors would enhance their success.
He also enjoined them to uphold the
standards set by the school locally and on the international scene,
where its past students were, according to him, exceelling.
It will be recalled that three of the
first set of students who graduated in June 2008 secured admission to
the Department of Music, University of Dayton, Ohio, United States of
America where they graduated with honours recently.
The three students – Olufemi Ogebule,
Ezeuko Anuli and Paul Ogunboye – became the first Africans to graduate
with honours from the university.
Earlier, Chairman, MTN Foundation,
Ambassador Hamzat Ahmadu, had described the MUSON scholars’ initiative
as a source of joy to the MTN Foundation.
“The music and entertainment industry in
Nigeria is making great strides and I can say that there is plenty of
room for improvement. So we look forward to seeing you play a major role
in shaping the future of this vibrant industry. MTN Foundation is glad
to provide the wherewithal to indigent but talented youths to nurture,
develop their latent music talent, and above all, earn a living from
it,” he added.
The high point of the graduation
ceremony was the decoration and presentation of gifts to all 29
graduating students by the MTN Foundation.
The best three graduating students were
presented special prizes by the MTN Foundation. Two of the graduating
students, Ubani Chingozirim and Olaitan Olufunmilayo, were awarded with
brand new laptops while Funminiwa Emmanuel won a keyboard for
outstanding leadership, excellent academic performance, creativity and
integrity.
The 29 scholars, who earned music diplomas, are the sixth set of beneficiaries of the MTN Foundation’s scholarship programme.
The MTNF/MUSON Music Scholarship
Programme was instituted to provide students with talent in music with
the opportunity to acquire qualitative music education, leading to a
MUSON Diploma in music.
The scholarship covers tuition, books and daily stipends.
So far, this sixth set brings the total number of students who have benefitted from the programme to 162
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