FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQS)
ZNF STATUS
Is the Zeribe Nwosu Foundation (ZNF) a registered Foundation? YES! ZNF is registered as a non-profit organization in the state of Michigan, USA. If you have any further questions in this regard, please kindly contact our Founder/CEO, Dr. Zeribe Nwosu at contact@zeribenwosu.com
ZNF FUNDING AND DONATIONS
How is ZNF funded? ZNF activities or programs are mainly self-funded by the Founder/CEO, Dr. Zeribe Nwosu, who earmarks a fraction of his income for these humanitarian endeavours. In addition, some of our volunteers and friends have contributed funds to support our scholarship program.
Can I donate money to support ZNF initiatives? We are currently not calling for donations pending the completion of relevant paperworks. Having said that, supposing we have 10 potential recipients of our scholarship but can only fund 5 due to limited funds, if you are interested in supporting any of the remaining candidates we could make that happen. In any case, please note that the candidates must have gone through our selection process, be considered worthy of the award, and that we will not allow any donor or sponsor to determine which candidate is selected for any ZNF support. If you eventually support a candidate, we will acknowledge your support on the award letter and our website.
I would like to support the ZNF in fund-raising, can I start? As mentioned above, we are not yet ready to call for donations and manage such funds. When we are ready, we will provide information on how to donate. Therefore, at the moment, no one is permitted to raise funds on our behalf. Having said that, we would like to build a formidable and highly experienced fund-raising volunteer team. If you are interested in joining to form this team and to discuss strategies, kindly contact the ZNF Team.
ZERIBE NWOSU SCHOLARSHIP (ZNS)
When is the next ZNS application call? Our goal is to post the main ZNS call on January 1 every year. This call is mainly for the ZNS Undergraduate to Postgraduate Transition Phase. Calls for ZNS Secondary to University Transition Phase is made directly to Secondary School Principals and ZNF synchronizes the timing with university exam registration period (often around September-December). Other than this, we may have ZNS for Essay Competitions, Language Test/Training, etc and can call for application at anytime. Keep an eye on our website for such opportunities.
What does the Zeribe Nwosu Scholarship (ZNS) cover? Currently, ZNS provides stipends ranging from ~N7,500 (~*$20) to N100,000 (~$240, *based on official exchange rate in May 2022). Thus, ZNS can cover registration for Nigerian university entrance exam (JAMB) at the lower limit and at the upper limit can cover/support with house rent, laptop cost, conference registration fee, books, tuition fee, even feeding, and other related expenses towards the awardee’s studies.
If I am a ZNS Awardee, what should I expect?The ZNF Team is interested in providing mentorship to all ZNS Awardees starting from day one and long into the future (even past the scholarship duration) so long as the Awardee continues to express interest in being mentored and also remain in good standing (i.e., without doing anything that would jeopardize the reputation of the scholarship.
Does ZNS Awardees continue to receive financial support? The nature of our funding support will always be explicitly stated on the call for applications and also on the award letter of the eventual ZNS recipients. We generally will prefer a one-off funding support model where a certain amount is paid to the recipients under a scholarship call. In that case, no additional funding will be provided to the awardee under that same scholarship unless if they re-applied in subsequent calls and got selected. However, we also have a ZNS Awardee on a tuition fee support whereby we have committed to paying the school fees every year for the duration of the awardee’s studies. If you are awarded a ZNS, then please carefully study and note the award conditions/amount as specified in the letter.
How rigorous is the ZNS? The ZNS is being modeled based on the structure of various competitive scholarships around the world. It is a very serious and rigorous scholarship. If you are applying for any ZNS, especially the ZNS Undergraduate to Postgraduate Transition Phase, please be aware that it is very competitive. Just as an example, we received ~85 applications for 5 possible funding slots in our ZNS 2022 call and more that 25% of the applicants are on track to graduate with a First Class degree from some of Nigeria’s most selective universities. In addition, nearly all of the applicants have very genuine financial need (another major selection criteria for a ZNS award). Therefore, applicants are encouraged to put in their best efforts when applying, and the general public should know that our awardees have been judged to be exceptional among their cohort of applicants. Our goal is to build a highly competitive and fair scholarship program that can match the most prestigious scholarships anywhere in the planet. To this end, we make our selection criteria as transparent as possible via the call for applications and all of our main ZNS applications are reviewed by at least two individuals of which one must be at the level of PhD. Perhaps more than several other scholarships, we take into serious consideration the financial need of applicants and the exceptional circumstances through which they may have successfully navigated to get to the stage of applying for a ZNS opportunity. Further, we consider and reward applicants engagement in extracurricular activities and volunteerism. Taken together, we believe we have established a rigorous and holistic scholarship with a fair and transparent selection criteria. For this reason, we are reasonably confident that most if not all ZNS Awardees will go on to have a successful career.
DEI STATEMENT AND COMMITMENT
What is the ZNF commitment to Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI)? We are absolutely committed to establishing a Foundation that is reputed for its diverse, equitable and inclusive approach to people, and believe that this philosophy is key to our ability to make impact in a multi-ethnic and religious country like Nigeria. We have zero-tolerance for all kinds of discriminations. On education, at the ZNF, we do not discriminate between degrees/certificates, and do not consider a person with, say, a medical degree to be more important than one with, say, a degree in Communications. Our philosophy is to respect people’s choice to study what they are passionate about and to encourage our followers to pursue all opportunities in their career area. On religion, we do not discriminate between Christians and Muslims or other religions. Accordingly, we are actively making efforts to have representations across various religions, and especially Christians and Muslims (being the two predominant religions in Nigeria). For this reason we have began to post congratulatory messages/flyers on special occasions like Christmas (for Christians) or Eid al-Fitr (for Muslims) as a way to demonstrate religious tolerance. On geography, we want to work with anyone from any part of the world. On gender, the ZNF takes women empowerment extremely seriously. We now have nearly equal male:female ratio in our Admin and Communications Teams combined and our scholarship awards will continue to pay attention to supporting women. Overall, we are unflinchingly committed to DEI at all levels.
GETTING INVOLVED (VOLUNTEERING)
I like ZNF initiatives and would like to volunteer. Can I? YES! We welcome volunteers from anywhere and we have a lot of opportunities for people to hone their skills and learn to communicate and work with other people. However, note that we do not pay volunteers. Before you contact us about volunteering, go through our website and be sure you understand the importance of what we do (promoting education), also making sure you share in that passion and are willing to accommodate and tolerate other people (whether ZNF Team members or followers).
If the ZNF does not pay volunteers, what then is there for me to gain for volunteering? First and foremost, volunteering for the ZNF gives you the opportunity to support someone’s career pursuit which is a great cause if you are interested in that. You also have a unique opportunity to interact with and network with current volunteer team, which is made up of highly talented individuals with outstanding accomplishments across Nigerian and western universities. Further, other ZNF Team members will support your own academic/career pursuits and this support ranges from sharing opportunities with you, reviewing your application documents (CV and personal statements) and even financial support (where available). Above all, you learn to take initiatives, how to give feedback, leadership and communication skills all of which are relevant across various professional disciplines. Altogether, it is a tremendous learning opportunity that can improve your chances of securing admission, employment and also building contact with people that could be major players in the society tomorrow. See our volunteer page for further details. In our view, the benefits of volunteering with us, if you make use of the opportunity, is far bigger than any amount we can pay you.
I would like to speak in one of the ZNF Seminars, what sort of topics can I present on and will I be given the platform to speak? Indeed, we are very excited to hear from prospective speaker speakers. We focus the ZNF Seminar Series on topics we believe are highly relevant for people to make their next career step. Many of those topics are unfortunately not taught in, or the focus of, undergraduate studies, and they include scholarship opportunities, CV and personal statement writing, manuscript writing, data presentation, etc. We have a line of prospective topics and welcome any new areas that a speaker might propose. Please feel free to reach out to Dr. Ukpai Eze to schedule a presentation.
REGARDING FEES FOR ZNF ACTIVITIES
Are ZNF services and activities free? YES! All services rendered under the ZNF are free of charge. These include and are not limited to the ZNF Monthly Seminar Series, ZNF Meet a Mentor Series, CV Diagnostics and Personal Statement Reviews (from university or job applications), Zeribe Nwosu Scholarship, ZNF Essay Competition, etc. However, as we look forward to evolving into a global institution, there might be exceptional instances where a reasonable cost may be charged, e.g., to offset the cost of hosting an event or a speaker for a workshop/seminar in a case we do not have sponsors for such events. Should this be the case, the appropriate cost will be explicitly stated on the event advertisement followed by a statement of justification. Other than such exception, it is our perennial goal to keep all ZNF activities cost-free.
ZNF website says that services/activities are free, but I was contacted by someone who asked that I pay money to apply for ZNS. Should I pay? NO! Do not pay any money to anyone for ZNF programs particularly the ZNS. Application for the ZNS will always be free, the selection process is fair, and the process cannot be influenced by anyone. For every application round, ZNF will make clear the eligibility and scoring criteria. If not clearly stated, please kindly let us know as soon as possible. Once an application deadline is past, we will review all complete applications based on the criteria indicated at the time of the ZNS advertisement.
ZNF TELEGRAM GROUP
I heard that the ZNF has a Telegram Group. What is the need and what happens in there? We conceived the ZNF Telegram Group as a sort of ‘mobile’ classroom where we share tips for successful academic/research pursuit, career opportunities, unplanned scholarship/funding support, success stories, and other ZNF news with our followers. We also restrict certain initiatives (e.g., the ZNF Meet a Mentor Series or ZNF Mini-Seminars) to only members of our Telegram Group. Our goal is to build a core of followers that we get to know, give unfettered access to the ZNF Team, and network with in a more semi-formal professional setting. It is a group for serious-minded people who understand what the Foundation stands for (education, mentorship, scholarship, philanthropy). You do not need to join the ZNF Telegram Group to participate in our activities or apply for our scholarships and being in the group does not confer any advantage in those regards.
Am I welcome to join the ZNF Telegram Group? Technically, YES! We welcome anyone to join our Telegram group as long as they understand and are interested in our activities and will respect the ordinances we have laid down to ensure our peace and collegial co-existence in the Telegram Group. These ordinances include no insults, no promotion of political candidates or ideologies, no promotion or attribution of importance to one religion over the other and no posting of indecent or nude pictures.
ZNF REACH
I see that ZNF has a lot of emphasis on Nigerians, is the Foundation only for Nigerians? NO! Our goal at the ZNF is to build a global institution that will serve all people wherever they may come from. We are only at the very beginning and thought it wise to concentrate most of our initial efforts on Nigerians. Otherwise, ZNF’s long-term vision is to have a broad visibility and to establish presence in countries across continents.
COLLABORATION WITH ZNF
I (we) have a non-profit organization that has similar programs as the ZNF, does ZNF welcome collaboration with other agencies? YES! Indeed we are extremely interested in collaborating with either government entities/ministries, companies, education agencies or non-profits that have shared interest in what we are doing. While we have a grand ambition, and are optimistic about making impacts, we are quite mindful that the scale of our impact will be more tangible if we partner with other agencies or non-profit organizations. Therefore, we are very interested in such partnership, and encourage you to contact any of the ZNF Team members to set up further discussions.
If you have any further questions beyond those addressed above, or need further clarifications, please feel free to reach out to the ZNF Team. We are also interested in hearing from anyone from the media on possible avenues to promote our activities so that who need the sort of service we render could see what we have on stock.