Leo Stan Ekeh, Chairman of Zinox Group and one of Africa's foremost technology entrepreneurs, has announced 1,000 university scholarships for indigent Nigerian students to study Computer Science in federal universities, choosing to mark his 70th birthday on 22 February 2026 with an act of philanthropy rather than celebration.
Ekeh said the scholarships were his way of giving back to a country that had supported his business interests over four decades. "This is my Group of companies' and my little way of appreciating my country, individuals and corporates that gave us the opportunities in the last 40 years and still patronising our Tech Group," he said.
Beneficiaries will be drawn from poor homes, specifically students whose parents earn below Government Level 10 or its equivalent in the private sector. Selection will be based on a minimum Intelligence Quotient and age, and each scholar will be assigned a technology mentor from their first year. The scholarships are unbonded, and the first batch is expected to commence in September 2026.
Ekeh said the initiative was motivated by concern over Nigeria's shortage of homegrown technology talent. "I don't see enough Nigerian tech wiz kids who can defend the massive development anticipated in the next 5 to 10 years in the oil and gas, banking, agriculture, manufacturing, mining and entertainment sectors. We are becoming slaves in our own country in a knowledge century, which is unfortunate," he said.
The annual cost of the programme will run into billions of naira, with full details to be published online on 22 April 2026. The initiative forms part of a broader philanthropic record that includes the Leo Stan Ekeh Foundation, the training of over 3,000 Nigerians and the donation of technology centres to more than 25 institutions nationwide.
Ekeh was decorated by President Olusegun Obasanjo as an icon of Hope on Nigerian Independence Day in 2003.
