Empower 20 Million Dreams In Nigeria

We began the implementation of our “Empower 20 Million Dreams” Project at Giddy2School with a clear conviction: that kindness, opportunity, empowerment, and quality education should never be privileges reserved for a few. Every child and young person, regardless of their background or circumstance, deserves a fair opportunity to learn, grow, and pursue their dreams.

Nigeria continues to face a significant education crisis, with an estimated 20.6 million children and young people out of school. Against this backdrop, we are grateful for the support that has enabled us to help young people remain on the path toward quality education and meaningful skills development, while also providing educational resources to 31+ primary school children.

At Giddy2School, we refer to our beneficiaries as Champions. This is intentional. Their stories are not defined by poverty, disadvantage, or the barriers they have encountered, but by their courage, resilience, and determination to keep pursuing their dreams. When their individual journeys are understood more deeply, it becomes clear why the word “Champion” resonates so strongly with us.

Stories of Our Champions

Ewaola is the youngest of 12 children and is being raised solely by her single mother. She is currently the only person in her immediate family to have gained the opportunity to attend university. We first encountered Ewaola through our 2023 fellowship, which has since evolved into the Giddy2School Global Leadership and Innovation Fellowship. Today, she is a 300-level Political Science student at Lagos State University.

Beyond supporting her education, we are committed to helping Ewaola build a pathway toward self-reliance. Through the project, she has been enrolled in vocational training in hair braiding, giving her an opportunity to develop a practical skill that can contribute to her financial independence while she continues her studies.

Pelumi, a 400-level Geology student, represents another story of what educational support can make possible. Without scholarship assistance, he was at serious risk of discontinuing his university education. Today, he is maintaining a Second Class Upper standing and continues to pursue his academic goals. For Pelumi, the scholarship was more than financial assistance; it restored the possibility that education could remain the bridge between his present circumstances and the future he had envisioned.

We also supported Efejiofor and Oreoluwa, whose father is deceased and whose journeys through basic education have been marked by significant challenges. For years, both faced barriers that made the transition into university increasingly difficult.

Their experiences reflect a broader reality faced by many children and young people from marginalized communities: structural inequalities can gradually turn ambitious dreams into seemingly unreachable goals, particularly when there is no support system to help young people navigate the barriers around them.

Through the project, both received university scholarships and continued learning support, allowing them to pursue the next stage of their education. Oreoluwa aspires to become a Biochemist, while Efejiofor dreams of becoming a Lawyer. Their determination reminds us that sometimes what a young person needs is not a lack of ambition, but simply someone willing to invest in the possibility of their future.

A Note on Scholarship Disbursement

During this reporting period, we experienced a halt in the disbursement of project funds. As a result, our ability to continue scholarship recommitments under the project was affected, and scholarship support through the project was limited to Quarter 1, which has already been duly reported.

However, our commitment to the educational journeys of young people did not stop with the funding interruption. Through other sources of funding mobilized by Giddy2School, we were able to provide scholarship support to a Master’s degree student at the University of Ibadan during this quarter.

This is an important reflection of our approach: while a particular funding stream may be interrupted, our commitment to keeping deserving young people in school remains constant. We continue to explore alternative resources and partnerships to ensure that the dreams entrusted to us do not have to stop simply because one source of funding has paused.

Looking Ahead

As we look toward the next phase, our ambition remains to reach more dreams, more young people, and more communities that are often overlooked.

We are particularly looking forward to expanding our work into additional villages and low-income communities, including through Project Kishi. In one of our partner schools, we encountered 42 children whose circumstances have significantly shaped their educational experiences and, in some cases, their willingness to dream about what is possible beyond their immediate environment.

These children did nothing wrong; they were simply born into circumstances that should never determine the limits of their future.

With continued support, we believe we can change that narrative. We can help them rediscover the confidence to dream, provide the learning opportunities needed to pursue those dreams, and equip them with the skills and support required to turn possibility into reality.

The “Empower 20 Million Dreams” Project is ultimately about more than scholarships. It is about ensuring that where a child is born, the income of their family, or the challenges surrounding their community does not become a permanent ceiling on what they can become.

We remain grateful to everyone who continues to believe that education should go round—and that every dream deserves a chance.