How Abraham Ologundudu Turned Setbacks Into a Fully Funded Education
Some students get through university on one scholarship, if they’re lucky. Abraham Ologundudu got through two entire degrees on six scholarships.
His story isn’t about a single lucky break – it’s about a young Nigerian who turned a childhood Bible-reading competition into the first line of a scholarship résumé that would eventually fund a Higher National Diploma (HND) in Statistics from the Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti and a Law degree from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, without his family ever having to foot the bill.
What stands out about Abraham’s story isn’t a single scholarship win – it’s a career built almost entirely on stacking one funded opportunity on top of another, across three very different disciplines: statistics, law, and now climate policy. His journey is a reminder that a scholarship profile doesn’t have to follow one straight academic line to work in an applicant’s favour – it can be built by connecting distinct interests into one coherent story about who you are and what you’re working toward.
Where the Story Started
Abraham’s academic path began at God’s Own Comprehensive College, where he studied as a commercial student and earned a star prize in Economics and Commerce in 2013. That same year, he moved on to study Mathematics and Statistics at the Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti, graduating with an HND in Statistics (Upper Credit) in 2018. In 2019, he began a law degree at the University of Ibadan – a discipline he says he was genuinely drawn to, unlike his earlier studies, which had been shaped more by which opportunities were fully funded at the time.
Funding his law degree wasn’t guaranteed. Abraham lost his father the very day he gained admission to study law, and money became an immediate concern for a family that had never had much to spare, as his mother was a petty trader and his father a civil servant. He briefly considered not continuing the law degree at all, since he already held one qualification, and took up informal teaching work to make ends meet while he weighed his options.
Building a Profile Across Scholarships
What changed his trajectory was a pattern that had actually started in childhood. At 15, Abraham won his first scholarship from his church after memorising and reading Psalm 119 (the Bible’s longest chapter, at 176 verses) in a children’s competition, an award he lists today as the TAC-CEU Scholarship – an educational aid and bursary program awarded to students in Nigeria, and it is primarily organized through the Christian Education Unit (CEU) of The Apostolic Church Nigeria (TACN).
That early win became a template he’d repeat through both of his university programmes. Across his HND and law studies, his scholarships and bursaries have included:
- The TAC-CEU Scholarship – his first, won in childhood, which funded his HND studies.
- The Sigma Club Scholarship – a University of Ibadan-based award from an NGO focused on funding less-privileged students, won in his first year of law school.
- The University of Ibadan Student Union (UI SU) Scholarship – the UI SU bursary aimed at students who are both financially disadvantaged and academically strong.
- The Regalo Hope Foundation (RHF) Scholarship – tied to his placement as 2nd Runner-Up in the Young Historian Competition 2024, a national competition that narrowed thousands of entrants down to a small final group.
- An additional NNPC-sponsored scholarship award during the later stage of his law degree.
These five scholarship awards funded his 2 degrees – enough that, in his experience, review panels seeing several prior funders already vouching for a candidate tend to view a new application more favourably. He’s careful to add, though, that a track record helps rather than being required – it doesn’t disqualify a first-time applicant with no scholarship history yet.
A Profile Built on More Than Academics
Beyond the scholarships themselves, Abraham’s profile includes leadership and competition wins layered on top. During his HND studies, he served as a legislative member of both the HND 1 and HND 2 arms of his department’s student association, and later served two terms on the Law Students’ Society Audit Committee at the University of Ibadan, applying his statistics background directly to student-body audit work – a deliberate example of connecting one discipline to another rather than treating them as separate tracks.
He’s also a seasoned tutor and writer, having taught more than 1,000 students over roughly seven years, with former students now attending different universities in Nigeria. He’s authored several books, including titles on government and economics for students, and has competed in and placed in multiple national writing and essay competitions, including a Top 10 finish in the Emerald scape Essay Competition 2024 and a Top 12 finish in the Adeyemi Michael Aduragbemi Essay Contest (AMAEC) in 2024.
Scholarship Is Not a Fluke
Ask Abraham what made him successful across so many different applications, and he doesn’t point to a single formula. Instead, he describes a discipline: before applying to anything, he tries to understand exactly what kind of scholarship he’s looking at.
Some awards are built around academic excellence and will draw a pool of applicants with near-perfect results. Others are built around a personal story, or around social impact and volunteering, where grades play a smaller role. Recognising which category a given scholarship falls into, and being honest about where he genuinely fits, became one of his central filters before spending time on an application.
His broader framing is that scholarship providers are not simply giving away money; they’re trying to build a community of people worth investing in, people they believe will eventually give back. That reframes the application process, in his view, from “what can I get from this” to “can I show that I’m worth this investment, and that I’ll return the favour to others later.”
Turning Toward Climate Advocacy
In more recent years, Abraham’s focus has widened into environmental law and climate policy. He’s an advocate for several Sustainable Development Goals – SDG 3, 11, 13, and 15- with a particular passion for SDG 13, climate action. He’s a member of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Youth and Children Constituency, and in 2024 founded the Arena for Climate Justice, an initiative that educates the public on climate change, greenhouse gas reduction, and preventing soil biodiversity loss.
That same interest now runs through his current portfolio of roles: as Project Manager and State Co-director for The United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network (UN SDSN) Youth Nigeria, he’s helped coordinate Oyo State’s programming for World Earth Day and World Environmental Day; alongside that, he holds research and assistant roles with the Climate Action Accelerator, The Green Institute, Y-SIPS Foundation, and the Aspire Institute – largely volunteering and all pointed in the same direction. When his internship track offered him a placement at a corporate law firm, he chose instead to intern with an organisation focused on environmental and maritime-adjacent work, reinforcing the same throughline rather than diverging from it.
His Advice for Other Students
Reflecting on his own background – a family with modest means, and a father he lost right as his law journey began – Abraham’s advice to students in a similar position starts with belief. He often repeats a line borrowed from Colin Powell: “What the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.”
Beyond belief, his advice is practical:
- Actively look out for opportunities, since he believes the real shortage most students face isn’t money but information.
- Take your first opportunity seriously, even if it feels small – a modest first scholarship or volunteering role becomes the foundation of a larger profile over time.
- Network deliberately with people who have already secured the kind of opportunity you’re chasing.
- Prepare in advance for scholarships you want, rather than waiting for an opening to appear before starting your research.
He’s direct about one point in particular: many fully funded scholarships, including several international ones, cover tuition, living costs, and more – leaving an applicant with little more to arrange than a passport and a visa. In his view, that changes the real barrier from “having money” to “having access to the right information early enough.”
The Takeaway
Abraham’s path through two qualifications, and now into climate and policy work, wasn’t paid for by one large, life-changing award. It was built scholarship by scholarship, role by role, each one chosen deliberately and each one reinforcing the story he was already telling about himself.
For students without a wealthy family or a single “golden ticket” scholarship in sight, his experience is a reminder that a fully funded education, and a fully built career, are often assembled in pieces by someone willing to research relentlessly, apply repeatedly, and take even a modest first opportunity seriously.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many scholarships has Abraham Ologundudu won?
Roughly five across two qualifications – including the TAC-CEU Scholarship, the Sigma Club Scholarship, the UI SU Scholarship, the RHF Scholarship (tied to his placement in the Young Historian Competition 2024), and an NNPC-sponsored award.
What did Abraham study, and where?
He holds a Higher National Diploma (HND) in Statistics from the Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti, and a law degree from the University of Ibadan in Nigeria.
What is Abraham currently doing?
As at when he shared his story in September 2026, he’s awaiting admission to the Nigerian Law School while serving as Project Manager and State Co-director for UN SDSN Youth Nigeria, an Administrative Assistant with the UNFCCC’s Youth and Children Constituency, and in research and assistant roles with several climate-focused organisations, including the Climate Action Accelerator and The Green Institute.
What is the Arena for Climate Justice?
Founded by Abraham in 2024, it’s an initiative focused on educating the public about climate change, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and preventing the loss of soil biodiversity, aligned with his advocacy for SDGs 3, 11, 13, and 15.
What’s his approach to choosing which scholarships to apply for?
He first identifies what kind of scholarship it is – academic-excellence-based, story-based, or volunteering/social-impact-based- and honestly assesses whether his own profile genuinely fits that category before applying.
What’s his main advice for students from low-income backgrounds?
Believe it’s possible, actively seek out information on opportunities rather than waiting for them to appear, take your first opportunity seriously no matter how small, and network with people who’ve already achieved what you’re aiming for.
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