The Mary Ojulary Foundation has disclosed that its financial support to young Nigerian entrepreneurs has now reached $180,000, reflecting its growing commitment to helping small businesses grow across the country. The Founder, Mary Ojulary, made this known on Friday during the award ceremony for the second cohort of the organisation’s Vanguard Fellowship Initiative held in Lagos.
Ojulary explained that the foundation was established from her long-standing passion for helping young people and creating sustainable opportunities for women, children, and youths. She said the foundation operates in two major categories designed to support education and enterprise development. She noted that although she had spent over a decade sponsoring children through primary, secondary, and tertiary education, many beneficiaries still returned asking for further help.
According to her, this made her rethink the long-term impact of scholarships alone and inspired her to create a structure that would empower young people to build stable sources of income. She said her turning point came during the 2023 general elections while she was engaging young Nigerians on civic participation. During those interactions, she met many young people between 18 and 35 years old who were creative, skilled, and ambitious but lacked guidance and mentorship. She realised that many of them had brilliant ideas but needed structured support to grow.
“In the process of engaging the youth, I met a lot of 18 to 35-year-olds who were innovative and creative, with a strong entrepreneurial spirit. They had ideas, but they lacked mentorship. That inspired me to create a platform focused on enterprise development, coaching, education, and mentorship,” Ojulary said.
The foundation’s two core programmes include the Aspire Scholarship, which has so far supported 25 children, and the Vanguard Fellowship Initiative, which is the organisation’s main entrepreneurship support platform. The $180,000 disbursed so far was through the Vanguard Fellowship Initiative alone.
The Vanguard Initiative includes the Ignite Bootcamp, where selected applicants from different parts of Nigeria undergo intensive training before they qualify for financial support. According to Ojulary, the bootcamp helps participants understand that entrepreneurship requires discipline, knowledge, and structure, not just funding.
“We call for applications across Nigeria, and we select the best minds based on the funding that we have. In the first cohort, we had thousands of applications, but we only selected 50 because of the funding. On the day of the awards, we gave 21 bright minds $5,000 each,” she said.
She added that an entrepreneur who attended the first award ceremony volunteered to sponsor four additional beneficiaries, raising the total for that cohort to 25 entrepreneurs and $125,000.
“For this second cohort, we had funding for eight people. In the first cohort in April 2025, we awarded 25 entrepreneurs $125,000. In this cohort, we have given out N50m, and that is going to eight entrepreneurs. So I would say the total support so far is approximately $180,000,” she explained.
The event drew commendations from dignitaries, including a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly representing Eti-Osa Constituency, Gbolahan Yishawu. The lawmaker praised Ojulary’s commitment to empowering young Nigerians and assured her of continued government support.
Yishawu also encouraged the cohorts to prepare policy papers that could contribute to legislative development. He promised to review strong submissions and push them forward with his colleagues in the Assembly.
“I gave you guys an assignment to prepare a paper. Please get them ready, and we will turn the worthy ones among them into legislation papers in the business of lawmaking. Mary, I don’t know where you have got this energy, but we must thank you for what you are doing,” he said.
The ceremony highlighted the foundation’s growing influence in nurturing entrepreneurial talent, offering mentorship, and creating opportunities for young Nigerians to build sustainable businesses. With the rising demand for enterprise support across the country, the Mary Ojulary Foundation plans to continue expanding its reach and strengthening its programmes to help more youths turn their ideas into viable ventures.
