Mary Ojulari Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation committed to sustainable development and community empowerment in Nigeria, has empowered a total of 21 outstanding young entrepreneurs with $105, 000 in investment to scale their businesses and create value in their communities.
The 21 successful entrepreneurs were selected by the panel of judges out of the 50 shortlisted applicants who participated in a two-week intensive Ignite Bootcamp.
The grant was announced at the inaugural edition of Vanguard Fellowship Awards & Networking Cocktail Party organised by the foundation and held at the Randle Centre for Yoruba Culture and History, Onikan, Lagos Island on Tuesday, April 15, 2025.
The list of 18 female and 3 male beneficiaries for the empowerment includes Jidechukwu Nwabueze (Jelapetra Farms Limited), Apelehin Oluwatoyin (Inspire Agro Centre),Olaleye Rofiat Olayinka (Eco Heroes) Hyacinth Orji (QuickWaka), Adetutu Olatunji (Two Event and Catering Services) Temitayo Oluyege (May Coutures), Oyebukola Oyeyemi (Oyecube Farms), Nkechi Gift Uzordima (Mush &Green), Olatunji Oluwafemi (Efem Studios), Chimdiebube Orji (Springsentia), Opeyemi Kehinde (Supplya), Gracious Obiyan(Ventus TechHub), UmmulKhayr Adeleke-Lawal (Ummi’s Nature), Asogba Sunday (Sunny Gee Shoe &Leather Work) Anne Ogunyomi (LavenderCare), Temitope Kareem (HubPharm Africa),Imam Aisha Omolola (Tripple A Foods &Spices Mix Enterprises, Amaku Nancy Chioma (Chef Nahnah Foods & Confectionery Limited), Oluwabukola Shittu (SHEILA SHITTU) and Anna Odogwu (Smartan House & Non Profit).
Delivering her speech at the occasion, the Founder, Mrs Mary Ojulari, disclosed that the decision to invest in the 21 young entrepreneurs from the inaugural edition of the Vanguard Fellowship is in line with the foundation’s mission to drive grassroots development by creating opportunities for individuals and communities to thrive through innovation, collaboration and empowerment.
Ojulari explained that she was inspired to give back through the foundation having been privileged to sponsor 25 remarkable children through primary, secondary and university.
She noted that her experience relating with young people across the country had given her firsthand knowledge of what they require to be successful.
She revealed that grant fund was donated by some well meaning corporate organizations and individuals who shared in her vision to make impact and touch lives positively.
She thanked the donors whom she declared preferred to be anonymous for believing and supporting her vision while calling on others to also come on board to reach more people and make bigger impact.
She stated that the beneficiaries were taken through 10 days of rigorous and transformational training, from the entrepreneurial mindset, business models, compliance, branding, strategies and finance management to sales, risk management, leadership and pitch-readiness.
She said the first cohort of the Vanguard Fellows were exposed to the right mentorship, education and funding at the bootcamp.
“We mentor young people and women, provide them business advice, funding. Today, we are giving 21 entrepreneurs $5,000 as grant to pursue their venture. To arrive at the selected 21 entrepreneurs, we set up an Ignite Bootcamp after calling for application. A total of 500 people applied with 50 successful entrepreneurs placed in a bootcamp for two weeks. We brought in mentors and industry experts to train them basic things such as how to run an organization. I am so proud of what we have achieved with the bootcamp. We could not have done it without the support of some individuals and partnership with organisations like SMEDAN,” she said.
In his remarks at the event, the keynote speaker and special guest, Dr. Cosmas Maduka, President & CEO of Coscharis Group, encouraged the beneficiaries alongside other fellows to believe in the power of their dreams and pursue their vision with courage to become successful entrepreneurs.
Using his grass to grace story, Maduka advised them to remain focused and shun all form of distractions that would make them lose sight of their vision.
“There are many of you who are first in class, but they are not first in real life. You need to approach life with a different mental attitude. Nothing happened in you outside of your belief system. You need to learn to take action as against professing by mouth alone” he said.
While acknowledging the challenges confronting Nigeria as a nation, he noted that Nigeria remains the best place to unlock opportunities, urging the beneficiaries to stay positive about the country amidst the difficulty.
