Succour came yesterday the way of a six-year-old Miss Jemimah Aladelokun, daughter of the late Assistant Editor of The Nation newspapers, Mr Dada Aladelokun and five other children of deceased journalists.
They got scholarship from the Richard Akinnola Foundation.
Aladelokun died last September 25 at Lagos University Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba, after a protracted illness.
Chairman of the Foundation, Mr Richard Akinnola, who presented the scholarship of N100,000 each to the beneficiaries yesterday at the Ladi Lawal Press Centre, Alausa, Ikeja said the gestured was geared towards ameliorating the sufferings of widows of the deceased journalists.
He explained that beyond the momentary emotional outpouring after the demise of journalists, the widows and children are left to face the arduous of life.
Akinnola said the foundation, established four years ago, has reached out to widows by empowering them, adding that it decided to use this year’s edition to go a notch higher by giving out annual scholarships to the children.
He said the scholarship is restricted to one child per family due to paucity of funds, adding that other consideration would be giving in the future as the foundation funds improve.
Other beneficiaries of the scholarship include: Cynthia Okonkwo, Adeyemi Ogundeji, Amadi Onyedikachi, Samuel Paul and Omolara Sanni.
Sanni, a student of Nigeria Institute of Journalism (NIJ), who spoke for the beneficiaries, thanked the foundation for the gesture, assuring that they would make adequate use of the opportunity to become better citizens and care for their younger siblings.
She said members of their family have not been having it easy since the demise of their father.
“I have been having challenges to pay my school fees and for me to continue, I have to do little savings so as to meet up.