The Baptist Theological Seminary Eku Diaspora Scholarship Fund (B.T.S.E.D.S.F) Cincinnati Ohio USA., is a private initiative which was birthed in 2015 when the initiator (Mr. Ovie Fred Okotie - Founder/President, Lil & Fred Okotie Foundation) paid a visit to the seminary in August 2015. He was given a tour of the premises by the then President of the Seminary, Rev. Dr. Goodfriday Aghawenu. During the tour, he was intimated on some of the challenges the seminary was facing at the time. One of which is the lack of funds to run the school because of the inability of most seminarians to pay their fees and because the school does not receive funds from the Federal Government because it is classified as a religious institution.
Mr. Ovie Fred Okotie decided to set up a scholarship trust fund in other to give financial assistance to indigent seminarians because he is convinced that seminarians who are giving up worldly comfort to respond to the kingdom’s call should not have to worry about tuition fees.
So, in 2016, Mr.Fred Ovie Okotie and Hon. Nurudeen Ohwavborua began strategic planning to establish and execute the scholarship fund, with Pastor Jolomi Edema coordinating the preparations in Nigeria. The Baptist Theological Seminary Eku Diaspora Scholarship Fund (B.T.S.E.D.F) was fully registered with the Nigerian Corporate Affairs Commission (C.A.C) as a non-governmental organization on 11th June 2019 and it was registered in the United States of America in the same year.
