…As seven undergraduates benefit

By Adesina Wahab
The Managing Director of Rite Foods Nigeria Limited, Mr Seleem Adegunwa, has said the future of Nigeria will be shaped by the quality of its young people and therefore nothing should be spared in encouraging and empowering the next generation of leaders, innovators, professionals, and nation-builders.

He stated this in Lagos during the maiden edition of the Rite Foods National Excellence Award where seven outstanding undergraduates of public universities were honoured and given N5 million each to assist in funding their education.

The award winners cut across the six geo-political zones , with one emerging from the Equal Opportunity Programme of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB.

The award winners are: Orzekor Godwin, a Software Engineering student of the Federal University of Technology, Minna, Vincent Daniel from the University of Maidugui who is reading Medicine and Surgery, Luka Miendwas also a Software Engineering student of Federal University of Applied Sciences, Kachia, and Joshua Chidiebere, a Software Engineering student of Federal University of Technology, Owerri.

Others are: James Victor, a student of the University of Uyo reading Medicine and Surgery, Okeke Chinedu, a student of the University of Lagos studying Mechanical Engineering and Ogunsua Dixon Tijesuni, a Mass Communication student of UNILAG. She emerged through JAMB’s Equal Opportunity Programme.

Adegunwa, who described Rite Foods as proudly Nigerian, said, “Through this initiative, Rite Foods is committing N35 million annually to reward the highest-performing Matriculants across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones. In doing so, we are sending a clear message to millions of young Nigerians: excellence matters, hard work pays, and outstanding achievement deserves recognition.

“Education remains one of the most powerful drivers of national development. No nation can rise above the quality of its human capital, and no economy can achieve sustainable growth without investing in the education and empowerment of its youth. For us, therefore, supporting education is not merely a corporate responsibility; it is a national imperative.

“This initiative is a direct expression of our corporate citizenship philosophy and our sustainability agenda, which is anchored on our EYEC framework—Education, Youth Empowerment, Environmental Stewardship, and Community Development.

“To ensure transparency, fairness, and credibility, beneficiaries of this programme were selected through a JAMB-led rigorous aggregate assessment of their WAEC, UTME, and Post-UTME results. This approach ensures that academic excellence, consistency, discipline, and outstanding performance are duly recognised and rewarded.”

Adegunwa also announced that the beneficiaries would have the chance of being mentored and also do internship at the company.

He opined that the award would be an annual event and that the scope could be enlarged in the future.
Speaking on the occasion, the Registrar of JAMB, Prof. Isaq Oloyede, lauded the initiative, saying Rite Foods did the right thing by making the selection process go through fair, objective and transparent process.

“We have got many proposals from many groups and bodies regarding rewarding candidates who excel in the UTME which we turned down. We accepted this one because Rite Foods did the right thing. The process was objectively and transparently done. Also, they are not rewarding those who did well in the UTME, they are rewarding those who did well in the exam and also were able to secure admission into universities across Nigeria.

“Some candidates may score high marks in the UTME and be unable to secure admission in the end. Many factors can be responsible including wrong subject combination at the UTME level or even with subjects in WASSCE that they plan to secure admission with,” he explained.

Oloyede urged other corporate bodies to emulate the gesture by Rite Foods and also counselled the beneficiaries to also be deteemined to stay and contribute positively to the growth and development of Nigeria.

Speaking for the beneficiaries, Okeke Chinedu thanked Rite Foods and promised that they would not disappoint the company, their families and Nigeria at large.