TOSIN ALASHE
University of Surrey (MSc) and University of Birmingham (PhD), United Kingdom
Fully funded – Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) Scholarship
MSc and PhD
Background: Microbiology, Covenant University, Nigeria
Tosin Alashe’s scholarship story began far from any admissions office. After graduating from Covenant University with a degree in microbiology, she was posted to Kano for her NYSC service year; a posting she initially dreaded. While there, she became troubled by the number of young almajiri boys she saw begging on the streets and decided to act. She founded a community project that trained a group of them as professional cobblers, equipping each one with a toolbox to start their own trade; self-funding much of it, going into debt, and leaning on friends to cover costs the Ministry of Education’s modest support didn’t stretch to. The project, and her broader service in Kano, earned her the Kano State NYSC Award. Years later, a chance comment led her to discover she also qualified for a National Honours Award, which came with an invitation to meet then-President Goodluck Jonathan, and with it, full scholarship funding that carried her from an MSc at the University of Surrey through to a PhD at the University of Birmingham, sponsored throughout by the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF).
Not through a conventional application process at all. The PTDF scholarship came as a national honor, recognizing the community impact of the vocational training project she ran for almajiri boys during her NYSC year in Kano. She only learned she qualified for the National Honors Award when someone mentioned it to her in passing, she hadn’t sought it out.
Full sponsorship from her master’s degree through to her PhD covering her MSc at the University of Surrey and her PhD at the University of Birmingham alongside a guarantee of immediate employment with the Nigerian government for recipients of the award.
Sitting in the auditorium with other honorees before meeting the President and being told, “your life is about to be changed forever”; a moment she almost didn’t believe, given how often such promises don’t materialize in practice. She also recalled the irony of having abandoned her community project feeling unsupported and in debt, only to later learn it had been recognized at the highest level.
Don’t disqualify yourself from opportunities simply because you can’t yet picture them happening for you, she was told outright by friends with first-class degrees that she likely wouldn’t qualify for scholarships without one, and her path proved otherwise. Her scholarship wasn’t won through academic merit alone, but through recognizing a need in her community and acting on it with whatever resources she had. Be intentional: surround yourself with people who hold you accountable, make your impact visible, and actively look for opportunities rather than waiting for them to find you. In her words: “Sometimes a chapter that you’re afraid of could be that chapter that leads you into something big.”
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