Buea: Landmark Metropolitan University boss offers 100 MFCFA-worth scholarships to needy learners.

The beneficiaries include some needy school children as well as some exceptionally talented students from Secondary, High School and those at the university level. They benefited full and partial scholarships to further their education both within and out of the country. 

Prof Simon Legah, who doubles as the President of Landmark Group of Companies, handed the scholarships during a ceremony in Buea on Saturday, September 23, 2023.

Through the gesture of the President of Landmark Metropolitan University, fully funded scholarships, worth five million FCFA each, were awarded to two students, Ekinde Vanessa and Mbacham Roseline, for them to study in Canada. 

Some 34 selected students also benefited fully funded scholarships to study at Landmark Metropolitan University. Some 250 others got partial scholarships to study at the institution. 

Other beneficiaries included 106 Secondary School students who were awarded fully funded scholarships while a visually impaired student also got fully funded scholarship to study at any state university. 

LMU boss says move to give back to community 

According to the benefactor, the initiative is part of his drive to help the less privileged in his society who face the same difficulties he faced. 

“I struggled when I was going to school. This is a way for me to give back to my community. Our motivation is to help people who have financial difficulties, the less privileged, people with disabilities and Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs. We think education is empowerment and human investment. Thus, we are motivated by virtue of their needs to be part of their success,” Prof Legah said.

The LMU boss said he expects that the young people who are beneficiaries of the scholarship, will be empowered such that each of them will be worth more than the total amount he invested in them.

Landmark Metropolitan University is one of the rare institutions in the country that offers most of its students huge scholarships.

Most programmes in the institution are covered by scholarships, with regular students paying just a fraction of what is expected of the different study areas.

Addressing beneficiaries and the benefactor during the ceremony, erudite scholar, Prof P.K Titanji, who was guest at the event, saluted the President of Landmark Metropolitan University for his positive contributions in developing the minds of young Cameroonians in computer science, artificial intelligence and engineering; skills which he said are in high demand in the world today.

The scholarships, Prof Titanji added, represent a great sign of generosity that will stimulate progress and cause the recipients to work harder and give back to the community one day. 

“…take the prizes as an incentive to do more with the advantages of technology in this century,” Prof Titanji told the beneficiaries.

In his keynote speech on the theme: “Investing in your future: Treating your dedication as a business”, the Director of Programmes at Landmark Metropolitan University, Engineer Kah Kissinger, challenged the beneficiaries to treat their education as entrepreneurs treat their business ideas. 

He encouraged beneficiaries to aim for maximum profit while investing in education by setting academic goals and defining success in their own terms.

Beneficiaries express gratitude to LMU boss 

Speaking to the press after receiving the scholarship, Mafagah Julliet, a visually impaired student who has been sponsored by Prof Legah from Form Five, said it was a lifesaver. 

“The scholarship is very important to me because without it, I would not be able to go to school because my parents are not wealthy. It will help me with my education,” Mafagah said.

For her part, Mbacham Roseline, another beneficiary, said being an orphan, she will use the opportunity to study hard so she can help her friends at the orphanage. 

“I am an orphan from Hoptec Orphanage. I thank God for this scholarship because I believe God is raising me so that I can also become a source of hope to my brothers and sisters at the orphanage and the world at large. I will be going to Canada to focus on my studies. I will make use of all opportunities that I can have,” Mbacham said.