Nart Faith Owolona: The Idoma lady Building a future for the girl child

Every child deserves the chance to dream. Yet for millions of girls across Africa, that dream is often cut short by poverty, inequality, lack of education and harmful cultural barriers.

For Nart Faith Owolona, those challenges are not just statistics. They are lives waiting to be transformed.

The entrepreneur, philanthropist and founder of the Juliestot Foundation for Women and Girl Child has quietly built a reputation as one of Benue State’s most passionate advocates for girls’ education and women’s empowerment. While many speak about creating opportunities for the next generation, Owolona has devoted her life and resources to making those opportunities a reality.

From classrooms in Otukpo to empowerment programmes stretching across Africa, her mission has remained the same: to ensure that no girl is denied the chance to become everything she was created to be.

Owolona’s journey into philanthropy did not begin in a boardroom. It began with the values instilled in her by her late mother, a woman who believed deeply in the strength and potential of girls.

In 2019, she established the Juliestot Foundation in her mother’s memory. What started as a tribute has grown into a movement that is transforming lives across communities and across borders.

“Our work is not charity,” she says. “It is investing in potential.”

Convinced that education remains the most powerful tool for changing lives, Owolona founded the Juliestot Girls Secondary School in Otukpo, Benue State, where girls receive quality education free of charge.

The school offers more than academic instruction. It provides a safe environment where girls are encouraged to believe in themselves, develop leadership qualities and prepare for meaningful futures. With plans already underway to establish another campus in Abuja, her vision continues to expand.

For Owolona, educating a girl means changing the future of a family, a community and ultimately a nation.

“When you educate a girl,” she says, “you transform a generation.”

Her passion for empowerment extends beyond formal education.

Through the Juliestot Vocational Centre, women and young girls receive practical vocational training and entrepreneurial skills that prepare them for financial independence. The centre equips participants with the knowledge and confidence to establish businesses, earn sustainable incomes and become contributors to their communities.

The impact of the Juliestot Foundation now extends beyond Nigeria.

Its programmes have reached communities in Kenya, Rwanda and the Republic of Benin, providing educational support, healthcare interventions, menstrual hygiene awareness, leadership development and economic empowerment opportunities for women and girls.

Whether in rural communities or urban centres, the foundation continues to provide hope where it is needed most.

Owolona’s compassion also reaches widows and other vulnerable women.

Through the Juliestot Foundation, she has provided financial assistance, wrappers and medical support to widows, including beneficiaries in the Asa/Akpa community of Otukpo Local Government Area. For many of the women, the intervention represented not only material support but also renewed hope and dignity.

Her commitment to humanity has earned widespread recognition.

She has received several honours, including the Inspiring Youths Africa Magazine Seal Award, the Global Change Maker Award, and commendations from religious and civic organisations for her contributions to women, children and community development.

Despite the recognition, those who know her say she remains focused on the work rather than the awards.

As the world continues to advocate for greater investment in the girl child, Owolona believes governments, corporate organisations, civil society groups and individuals must work together to remove the barriers preventing girls from reaching their full potential.

“The barriers are many,” she says. “But every barrier we break frees one more dream.”

Today, her greatest achievement is not measured by plaques or titles but by the lives she has transformed.

It is reflected in the confidence of a young girl who now has access to education, the resilience of a woman who has acquired a life changing skill, and the hope restored to families whose futures once seemed uncertain.

For countless girls across Nigeria and Africa, Faith Owolona represents more than a philanthropist. She is a mentor, an advocate and a living reminder that one person’s vision can inspire lasting change.

As her work continues to expand, so too does her legacy, one built not on words alone, but on classrooms opened, dreams restored and opportunities created.

Faith Owolona is building a future where every girl has the chance to learn, to lead and to succeed.