Peter Nwomeh spent a lifetime believing this. He was an educator in Ozalla, Enugu State, who understood that a single student with access to higher education could change the trajectory of an entire family — and, over time, a community. The Foundation he inspired carries that conviction forward.
The Peter and Margaret Nwomeh Foundation (PNF) has been awarding scholarships since 2016, when the first Peter Nwomeh Scholar was selected from Ozalla. By 2018, three more scholars had been added — each presented with a cheque at a ceremony in Ozalla, each selected for consistent, documented academic excellence. In 2023, PNFUSA expanded the program significantly, launching named scholarship awards and growing the cohort to include students across Ozalla, Obe, and the broader Nkanu communities. Today, between both organisations and across more than a decade of sustained giving, the Foundation has supported over thirty scholars.
Scholarship values have grown steadily alongside the program — from ₦100,000 per session in 2016 to ₦250,000 today, with postgraduate recipients receiving ₦250,000 as well. Scholars are required to maintain a minimum CGPA of 3.5 and uphold the values the Foundation represents.
Detailed eligibility information and applications are available through the PNF Scholarship Portal.
Over the course of the program, PNF Nigeria has supported more than a dozen undergraduates from Ozalla — in fields ranging from mathematics and accounting to medicine, pharmacy, computer engineering, and political science — at universities including the University of Nigeria, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, ESUT, and the University of Port Harcourt. A number of those scholars have graduated and are now practising professionals.
The program has not shied away from holding standards: a small number of awards have been withdrawn for insufficient academic performance, because the Foundation takes seriously the obligation it owes to donors and to the community that a scholarship represents.
Since 2023, PNFUSA has added a parallel scholarship cohort — currently supporting students in medicine, medical rehabilitation, computer science, accounting, philosophy, physiotherapy, medical laboratory science, mechanical engineering, and survey sciences, across institutions that include the University of Nigeria, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Covenant University, ESUT, and the University of Port Harcourt.
PNFUSA has also launched a Special Programs track, sponsoring young people from Ozalla and neighbouring communities in technology training through the Emerging Technology Skills for Africa program (ETSAP) — a fully-virtual, six-month course run in partnership with the Enugu State Government.
The Foundation is committed to growing the scholarship pool each year across both PNF and PNFUSA, reaching more students from the Nkanu communities and adding new program tracks as resources allow. We are investing in the PNF Scholarship Portal to streamline applications, track academic progress, and strengthen the connection between the Foundation and its scholars over time.
We envision a fellowship large enough that our scholars, and their peers, form an enduring professional network — people who return, in their own careers, to lift the generation behind them, as they were lifted.
Every scholarship begins with a donor who chose to invest in a student they may never meet. A single contribution could fund a semester, or a full year of study. A sustained commitment changes a life’s direction. Donations to PNFUSA are tax-deductible for U.S. donors.
