There is a proverb that goes, ‘No man is an island’. The latter implies that humans are inter-dependent and need to be part of a community in order to thrive. It is undisputable that one can’t know everything but the combination of expertize from different individuals make a significant impact.

It is under this backdrop that a young Nigerian, Damola Oloketuyi identified challenges that obstruct students from pursuing studies abroad in universities of their choice and founded AOC Schengen to provide them with needed support.

AOC Schengen is an educational consulting firm which runs international recruitment services to students who aspire to continue their education abroad in Europe.

They are assisted to get admission into universities in different countries including The Netherlands, Germany, and Spain among others.

Having started operations in 2018, the firm has offices in Nigeria, Germany, Gambia and has recently expanded footprints to Rwanda.

AOC Schengen’s Founder and Managing Director, Damola holds a Bachelor’s degree in Petroleum Engineering and pursued Master’s in Aviation in Germany in 2014.

Like, other students he wanted a place where he could practice what he learnt and have internship opportunities.

He got partial employment in an aviation consulting firm within the first six months of studies and got hired by his school after graduation in 2016. Working with the school sharpened Damola’s marketing and relationship kills. His work was mainly about developing the market for African students to study in Germany.

The services were not popular at the time that he would to travel to Nigeria to talk to students and bring available opportunities to light.

“My hard work paid off big time that I was promoted as regional director where I was in charge of Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and Cameroun among others,” said Damola.

After holding senior managerial positions, and developing the market for the Schengen region, Damola founded his own company in Germany.

“By doing so, I wanted to create more options for people through my company initiated in 2018,” he noted.

The company started with offices in Germany but has expanded footprints to four countries including Rwanda.

Damola works with staff members in respective countries to prepare students get international competencies, provide advises, match students with the right schools and the right country based on financial and academic capabilities.

He encourages students aspiring to study overseas to take advantage of consultancy services he offers to get tailored information on what exactly they qualify for and application process.

“We help them understand why they are going to those countries and what courses fit. We have helped a large number of people but we still need to do more in different African countries,” says Damola.

“We are the major recruiters and get awards for that. The man behind the services has been a student and went through the whole system. We offer unique services that cover life after getting visa. We actually help students build the career not just helping them familiarize with campuses’ settings,” he adds.

Apart from admission into European universities to pursue Bachelor’s or Master’s courses, AOC Schengen also helps students on visa application process at a reasonable cost.

“If you pay, we guarantee you the admission. If you don’t, we pay back the money,” assures Damola.

He explains that his company seeks to create awareness about Schengen benefits and take it across the whole East Africa.

So far, AOC Schengen has assisted over 100,000 students since it began operations in 2018.

According to Damola, studying abroad opens students’ minds and exposes them to numerous opportunities.

“When you study abroad, always look for the right course and right country to meet your end goal. Besides, opportunities are not tied to one country. You always have to look at benefits that can be involved,” he advises.

AOC Schengen has opened office in the city centre inside WAKA building and offers free consultation sessions to students via Instagram (@aocschengen).

Interested students can access more information via provided link: https://aocschengen.de/ or call +250792574316

Damola Oloketuyi is a specialist in helping African students study in Schengen countries.