MTN Foundation has distributed over 700 school bags and other learning materials to students of Oba Akenzua II Junior School in Benin City, Edo State, as part of efforts to strengthen access to basic educational resources for children in public schools, RaveNewsOnline reports.
The intervention, implemented under the Foundation’s Learning Support Materials Initiative, is aimed at easing the financial burden on parents while providing young learners with essential materials needed for effective participation in school.
Odunayo Sanya, Executive Director, MTN Foundation, said the Foundation had invested more than N34 billion in communities across Nigeria, reaching over 31 million lives in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
Sanya said the initiative was particularly targeted at junior secondary school students because they were at a critical stage of their educational development and often required additional support to establish a strong academic foundation.
According to her the materials distributed included school bags, water bottles and notebooks, with more than 700 bags provided to students at the Edo school.
She said the Foundation had sustained the intervention across different schools, noting that the programme would continue in other institutions in subsequent years.
“Last year we were at Saint Maria Goretti, and this year we are here. Next year it will be another school. We intend to keep on helping young ones and assisting parents as well,” she said.
She explained that the intervention was designed to complement the government’s efforts in the education sector by ensuring that children from families with limited resources were not disadvantaged because they could not afford basic school materials.
She said the Foundation’s interventions had reached more than 8,000 schools nationwide since the inception of the Initiative.
More than 1,000 schools and institutions across the 36 states and the FCT would benefit from the Learning Support Materials Initiative in 2026.
Sanya added that 2,636 students across seven states had already received school bags and exercise books under the programme, while learning materials were also being provided to teachers.
The Foundation described the materials as more than ordinary school supplies, saying they represented encouragement, opportunity and a demonstration of confidence in the potential of the beneficiaries.
Representing the First Lady, Desili Okpebholo, at the event, Betty Okonoboh, Special Duties, Office of the First Lady Edo State said the intervention aligned with the administration’s SHINE Agenda, particularly its focus on creating opportunities and laying the foundation for sustainable development.
She said education remained central to the state’s economic transformation, stressing that investment in children would ultimately translate into a stronger workforce, innovation, entrepreneurship and responsible leadership.
Similarly charged the students to study hard, remain disciplined and continue to aspire to leadership, reminding them that some of them could become presidents, senators and other leaders of the country in the future.
The Foundation said its broader vision remained focused on improving the quality of life in Nigerian communities through sustainable interventions in education, health and economic empowerment.
The school’s principal, Edobor Sweet, thanked the MTN Foundation and the First Lady, whose office facilitated the school’s selection as a beneficiary of the learning support materials initiative.
Beneficiaries Adebanjo Olamide, a JSS 3 student, and Osas Eyinbora, a JSS 1 student, also expressed their appreciation to the MTN Foundation for the donation and promised to make good use of the materials.
