At the Sheraton Hotel recently, Lagos, Seven Up Bottling Company Plc unveiled Olujimi Williams to the media as the winner of this year's 7UP Harvard Business School Scholarship (MBA) worth $100,000. The scholarship scheme was introduced last year to commemorate the company's 50th anniversary, in line with its overall vision of creating a great future for promising Nigerians. The winner of the maiden edition, Ms. Misan Rewane, has completed her first year at the school and was also invited for the grand ceremony. OLUSHOLA RICKETTS spoke with Olujimi Williams after he was announced the 2012 winnerWHEN Olujimi Williams read on the page of a newspaper the congratulatory message for Miss Rewane over winning the 7UP Harvard Business School Scholarship last year, little did he know that it would be his turn in 2012.To commemorate its 50th years' service in the Nigerian market, Seven Up Bottling Company Plc last year initiated the 7UP Harvard Business School Scholarship to ambitious Nigerians who have gained admission to the Harvard Business School. So, every year, a Nigerian is expected to get a scholarship to study at the school. And at Sheraton Hotel, Lagos on Tuesday, Olujimi Williams was unveiled and celebrated as this year's winner.According to the young man in his late 20s, 'I got to know about the scholarship when I was reading a newspaper last year. I saw a full-page piece congratulating Ms. Rewane Misan who won the maiden edition of the 7UP Harvard Business Scholarship.'Williams attested to the credibility of the scholarship as it covered the tuition, board and travel expenses for the entire two years of the MBA programme.Born and raised in Lagos, William's parents had always wanted high-quality education for their children. Williams and his siblings were enrolled in some of the best schools in Nigeria right from their elementary school days to the university level.In 1995, Williams had his first school leaving certificate with Corona Primary School, Ikoyi. He later proceeded to Kings College, Yaba where he passed in 2001.' I left the country to pursue a degree in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Manchester, United Kingdom. I finished in 2007 and I had my masters there too. I later joined a company called General Electric, a multi-national company. In a variety of finance related role, I spent five years there and it made me to travel across Middle East and Africa,' he said.In 2010, Williams relocated to Nigeria. He remained with General Electric, the power generation division. He informs: 'I was there until June this year when I handed my resignation letter to go complete my Harvard Business School's MBA.However, he confessed that it wasn't an easy ride to clinch the scholarship, particularly to scale through the HBS entrance process where you have close to 10,000 people who applied for the MBA programme. Jimi made sure he left no stone unturned and gave maximum attention to details. Not only that, he put up convincing performances during the entire interview phrases to earn him enough plaudits.Jimi declared, 'God was on my side because other applicants were also good. By the time a student passed through HBS, winning the 7UP's scholarship was no longer a question of the quality or ability of the applicant.'According to him, Seven Up asked applicants to send their admission letters and the company went ahead to verify from the school if the students in were really offered admission. He added that other valuable information and the students' details were collected through application forms.At Seven Up, they went through three stages of interview.'Though I am not so sure, I think we were five and the requirement from Seven UP was relatively easy to Harvard.'Once you passed through the Harvard stage, Seven Up only required you to do interviews with the Executive Management of the company (first, the Executive Director; Second, Executive and Managing Director; and finally with the Executive and Managing Director and the Chairman of Seven-Up bottling company),' Williams explained.To him, the Harvard pre-requisite was the toughest. It required students to write G-maths examination and essays. In the essays last year when he applied, he informed that there were questions like 'What were his three most significant accomplishments'' 'What were his three major setbacks'' And 'Why do you want to complete your MBA'' It was a platform for the school to know who and what you were.'The management knows your academic prowess and work experience since they have your transcript and a copy of your CV. But the essay tells them your characteristics, personality and what motivates you to apply. It was actually the first time I applied for the school,' Williams stressed.Since it was few Nigerians that got admitted to Harvard Business School or applied for the scholarship, William's hopes were high. But he made sure that he prepared very well and with his performances during the various interviews, he remained optimistic that Seven Up would see him as a suitable candidate. And with a bit of luck, he was finalluy picked.'It's a fantastic experience and development in my life. I am grateful, as it's a full scholarship with no string attached. Seven Up doesn't apply any pre or post MBA condition to the scholarship. So, we are not required to come back and work for the company at any point in the future. Also, I am not expected to pay back for the scholarship. It really gives the chance to go down the path that you really want for yourself after completing the MBA programme.'Without the scholarship, a student will have to take student's loan. But after you graduate in two years, you may suddenly be interested in taking a more lucrative job than what you ideally would have liked to just to pay back the loan. Due to the interest fixed to the loan, it takes 10 to15 years for a student to pay back. By this scholarship, I don't have to take on the most lucrative job. I can decide to explore what I really want to do after the programme and for me, I will most likely return to the energy industry where I was working before I applied for the programme,' he spoke of the scholarship.His father, Christopher Afolarin Williams retired in Shell where he spent all his work years, while Jimi's mother is a medical doctor. 'I have three siblings and I am the youngest. My elder brother is Afolabi, my two sisters are Fumilayo and Abimbola.'He strongly believes the scholarship will re-shape and add value to his life because Harvard teaches leadership skills and how to develop oneself.The MBA programme admission at Harvard is normally billed to start from October to April but Williams is leaving Nigeria in late August.
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