The Advocate for Positive Development (APD) Group Director, Mr. March Oyinki, in a press release dated January 5, 2026 announced the organizations maiden Scholarship Award Programme.

The programme is an ambitious NGN300,000,000 scholarship initiative that seeks to give back to the society by helping to keep 1000 public primary school pupils in school nationwide in 2026, which is part of efforts to help reduce the out of school rate of children in the country.

The Advocate for Positive Development is an NGO duly registered in Nigeria with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). Our primary focus is on development advocacy and youth empowerment of which, the 2026 scholarship award programme is one among several other interventions the organization has embarked upon, such as the 2024 APD Global Performance Index Report on Nigeria and the Operation Free Food (OFF Hunger) Initiative.

Mr. Oyinki stated that the programme is in response to the federal government Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) Act, 2004, and part of global efforts to contribute to the reduction of the high dropout rate in schools among primary school pupils in the country and to encouraging more families to keep their wards in school, by sponsoring children’s education as a way to inspire children to pay more attention to their studies and encourage them to work hard to earn the scholarship.

We are all aware of our present society as being one of unequal opportunities, where the divide between the affluent and the extremely poor has broadened astronomically, of which life has been unfairly favourable to a few, while many lacked even the basic necessities of life such as education.

According to the UNICEF 2024 report – “In Nigeria about 18.3 million children were out of school as at 2024.”
This UNICEF data shows the enormity of the crises in the country’s education sector and the spiraling high out-of-school rate, which is due partly to the high cost of education and the fact that only a few privileged families in the society can afford good education for their children, whereas the larger majority are so poor they can not even afford the basic primary education for their wards.

The failure of society to act proactively to redress this national crisis in support of global efforts to help keep children of poor families in school, could be detrimental to the entire society. This initiative gives members of the public and well meaning Corporate organizations the opportunity to help poor children during their time of need. Considering the magnitude of the funding requirement for the programme, it becomes necessary to seek support from grant providers and donors, which will provide the necessary funding to make the programme a resounding success.

The pre-qualification registration for the APD maiden Scholarship Award Scheme for the year 2026 is open to all public primary schools across the country, and participation is by enlistment, and it for only public primary school pupils from class 1 to 6. The scholarship award is a fully funded programme in the designated schools in the six geo-political zones across the country. Donors can register one or several public primary schools as beneficiaries within their community.

*Pre-qualification*

Objective: Support families
Coverage: National
Method: By registration
Award Type: Full funding
Target: Public Schools
Focus: Pry2-Pry6
Enrollment: At admission
Award Criteria: Pry 1 annual Assessment
Qualification: Excellent Pass
Participation

For a child to participate in the Advocate for Positive Development (APD) scholarship programme such a child must have gained admission into a government owned primary school as a pupil, whereas the condition for a school to be qualified to participation in the Scholarship Programme is for such a school to be a fully government owned educational institution.

The scholarship programme is limited to only primary schools in any part of the country.

APD reserve the right toapproach a school and request for them to participate in the programme, likewise, the school could as well request in writing to participate in the programme or by submitting a pre-qualification / donation request through the scholarship form online

https://forms.gle/DeozKZYYgon4YZva7

—
March Oyinki,
Group Director
Advocates for Positive Development (APD)
https://sites.google.com/view/apdnigeria/home
Mobile: +234 805 202 2844
X: @Apdnigeria