– AS NGOFORO FOUNDATION LAUNCHES FULLY-FUNDED SCHOLARSHIPS FOR 20 STUDENTS IN HIS HONOUR
By Ike Onyekwere
Mazi Franklin Ngoforo has launched the Tony Ezenna Scholarship Scheme (TESS), an initiative of the Franklin Ngoforo Foundation designed to provide full educational support for indigent children from Ideato, Imo State, in honour of renowned businessman and philanthropist, Chief Tony Ezenna of Orange Drugs. Speaking at the launch on Sunday, September 20, 2026, Ngoforo said the first phase of the scheme would support 20 beneficiaries from Junior Secondary School One through university, with a long term target of reaching 1,000 sons and daughters of Ideato within ten years.
Ngoforo described the initiative as an attempt to convert the legacy of Chief Ezenna into a continuing investment in human beings. He said, “There are many ways to honour a great man. You can give him an award. You can put his name on a building. You can organise ceremonies and tell the world how good he has been. But there is an honour greater than all of these. It is to take the values that made him great and reproduce them in another generation.” According to him, the scholarship is therefore not merely about paying school fees, but about “planting human beings” who could eventually become doctors, engineers, lawyers, teachers, entrepreneurs, scientists, professionals and leaders.
Speaking on the personal significance of Chief Ezenna’s reputation to people from Ideato, Ngoforo said the businessman had given the area something that could not be purchased with money. “Chief Tony Ezenna has given our land something we cannot purchase: respect, pride and identity,” he said. Ngoforo recalled instances where introducing himself as a person from Ideato immediately elicited recognition because of the reputation of Ezenna, adding that “the reputation of just one man has gone ahead of me.” He said such experiences demonstrated the wider social value of a respected name built through years of enterprise, service and community investment.
The facilitator of TESS also highlighted several areas in which he said Chief Ezenna had contributed to the development of Ideato. He noted his interventions in road construction, sports development, traditional institutions, cultural tourism, education, churches and community projects. According to Ngoforo, “Nearly three decades ago, when asphalted roads were still a distant dream in many parts of Ideato, he personally constructed such roads on our soil.” He also cited Ezenna’s contribution to the Orlu Umuchima Akokwa Road and its erosion control infrastructure, describing the project as part of the evidence of the businessman’s longstanding interest in the development of his people.
Ngoforo, however, said Ideato must do more to preserve and extend Ezenna’s legacy. “Ideato has not honoured Chief Tony Ezenna enough,” he declared, arguing that celebrating a person’s achievements should go beyond ceremonies and awards. He said the more enduring way to honour Ezenna was to reproduce the values of generosity, enterprise and community service associated with him. “If he lifted people, then let us lift people. If he opened doors, let us open doors. If he created opportunities, let us create opportunities,” he said.
Explaining the immediate objective of TESS, Ngoforo said the scheme would take full responsibility for the education of the 20 pioneer beneficiaries from JSS1 to university. “We are saying that poverty must not decide who becomes great,” he stated. He added that the programme was established on the conviction that a child’s circumstances should not determine his or her destiny. Beyond formal education, he disclosed that the broader initiative would also encompass skills acquisition, vocational training and business support, as the Foundation works towards its ten year target of transforming the lives of 1,000 Ideato beneficiaries.
Ngoforo said a committee was constituted to identify the pioneer beneficiaries and ensure that the process was based on need, intellectual ability, potential and fair spread. He urged the beneficiaries to regard the scholarship not simply as a gift but as a responsibility. “Somebody has invested in your future because they believe your future can become an investment in the future of others,” he told them, urging them to study hard, build character, respect their parents and teachers, remain humble and, eventually, help others just as they had been helped.
Addressing Chief Tony Ezenna directly, Ngoforo said the Foundation could not adequately repay the contribution he had made to Ideato but could offer him a promise that his legacy would continue through the lives of those being supported. “We can promise you that your investment in Ideato will not end with your generation,” he said. He added: “We can promise you that the children being lifted today will be taught to lift others tomorrow.” Ngoforo described Ezenna as “an Ideato identity” and “a symbol of our collective pride,” while urging the people of Ideato to celebrate their heroes while they are alive. He concluded by charging the pioneer beneficiaries to make the opportunity worthwhile so that future generations would remember how “one man’s greatness inspired a people to become greater.”
