Blessing Okafor

Blessing is the youngest of six. Her five older siblings all finished at secondary school. Not because they did not want to continue — because the money ran out, one by one, before it reached them.

She scored 261 on JAMB. Her oldest sister, who works as a seamstress in Lagos, found the Decagon programme while searching online at midnight. She called Blessing at 6am the next morning.

Blessing submitted her application that afternoon.

At Babcock University, she enrolled in Accounting. In her first year, she was elected treasurer of her faculty student association — a role that requires managing a budget, running financial reports, and presenting to the faculty board. She is nineteen years old.

Every semester, she receives a message confirming that her fees have been paid. Every semester, she calls her oldest sister first.