The Nation Newspaper

Tag: scholarship

  • Joy, as 125 Kaduna students win foreign scholarship

    Joy, as 125 Kaduna students win foreign scholarship

    Maryam Nuhu Ibrahim, one the beneficiaries of the overseas scholarship scheme of the Kaduna State government, said until she got her admission to study Medicine abroad, she never believed the phrase, ‘dividends of democracy’.

    Miss Ibrahim’s story is like many of her colleagues who were selected from the 23 local government areas of the state for the scholarship.  With over 1,000 candidates screened, they never expected to be selected.

    Maryam told The Nation that she never thought she stood a chance.

    “In fact, I lack words to express my feelings. I have since been nursing the ambition of studying medicine. I have tried Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) severally, but I was given agriculture. As a lady, I felt it is odd to study agriculture, so I did not accept the admission.

    “When I heard about this opportunity of government overseas scholarship, I just said, let me give it a trial, even though I thought they will only consider people with godfathers. But here I am today; I just received my admission without any form of lobbying. I only have to say, I thank God and Governor Mukhtar Ramalan Yero,” she said.

    The scholarship scheme is an initiative of Governor Mukhtar Ramalan Yero.  Shortly after assuming office on December 16, 2012, he spoke of the need to send students abroad on scholarship.

    Early last year, he made good his promise by giving 29 300-Level medical students of Kaduna State University (KASU) the overseas scholarship to enable them complete their clinical studies at the Kampala International University, Uganda.

    But the number of students that benefited this year was unexpected as Yero distributed 125 admission letters last week.

    Speaking at the flag-off of the 2014/2015  scholarship awards, the Governor said the state is currently sponsoring 22 PhD, 77 MSc and 26 medical students in countries such as Malaysia, Ghana, South Africa, India, New Zealand, Egypt and Uganda.

    “The candidates were selected after a thorough screening exercise with all the 23 Local Government Areas equitably represented,” he said.

    Yero said his administration has so far spent N1.4 billion on internal and external scholarships since he assumed office in addition to a recent approval for the disbursement of N119,992,692.00 for new students.

    Yero said the scheme was initiated to improve the manpower capacity of the state.

    “Let me reiterate our determination towards improving the human capital to accelerate socio-economic development of the State.  It is in furtherance to this resolve that we established the Postgraduate Overseas Scholarship Scheme with the aim of provision of the required manpower in such critical areas of Medical Sciences, Engineering, and Applied and Natural Sciences,” he said.

    In his address, the Chairman, Kaduna State foreign Scholarship Implementation Committee and former ABU Vice Chancellor, Prof Shehu Abdullahi, disclosed that 1,664 students participated in the selection process.

    He said: “1,664 students applied for the scholarship to undergo programmes.  In Human Medicine, 414, Masters 1072, and PhD 178, from the 23 local government areas in the state.

    Out of the 1,664 applicants, 1,559  were found qualified for the scholarship and consequently short-listed based on laid down criteria for interviews.

    “Interviews of the applicants were conducted on the 25th and 26th September, 2014. The applicants were interviewed at their senatorial zones and were selected based on their performances and available fund for the foreign scholarship scheme.”

    Other beneficiaries expressed gratitude  to the government and promised to make the state proud abroad. The students are expected to leave Nigeria as soon as possible.

     

  • UK varsities’ £1m scholarship for Nigerians

    UK varsities’ £1m scholarship for Nigerians

    A consortium of leading UK Universities (NCUK) has launched a £1m scholarship scheme aimed at attracting the brightest Nigerian students to UK. The scheme will also develop their leadership skills in addition to creating leadership opportunities for Nigerian students.

    Chair of the Trustees for NCUK and Vice President of the University of Manchester Prof Colin Bailey students that undergo NCUK programmes turn out hot cakes

    Said he: “Students that come through the NCUK programmes are well sought after by our universities.  They provide a valuable contribution to campus life here in the UK, integrating not only with our UK students but also other international students.  We believe our universities offer the best education in the UK”

    The competitive scholarship scheme is open to all Nigerian students who enroll on an NCUK pathway programme, designed to prepare students for university study in the UK, Baily said.

    According to him, students who are eligible for the scholarship scheme can study at one of the study centres in Nigeria and thereafter be awarded the university scholarship to study in the UK when they graduate from the programme in 2016.

    The scheme, he added, includes 57 UK scholarship of up to £20,000, offered by 16 of the UK’s most prestigious universities, the opportunity to join a world-class leadership training programme and additional awards of £2,000 offered by study centres in Nigeria.

    NCUK was first established internationally in 1987 and began working in partnership with its study centres in Nigeria over 10 years ago.  Today NCUK programmes are run in Calabar, Kaduna, Lagos and Port-Harcourt by Oxbridge Tutorial College, Chrisland Pre-Degree College, Executive Business School, Lagos, Zamani College Kaduna, Access Group of School Calabar and Brookstone School Port-Harcourt respectively.

    The university consortium offers a one year international foundation programme (IFY) and an international Diploma.

    In addition to the 57 scholarships, the winner will also be eligible to compete for 20 places on a training programme which will be offered by the international leadership development organization and common purpose founded in 1989, which runs scholarship development programmes that enable people from different backgrounds, sectors and geographies to work together to solve common problems through globally oriented programmes that give participants the inspirations, skills and connections to become better leaders both at work and society.

    Country Director of the British Council, Connie Price said: “This collaborative £1m  scholarship scheme is excellent news for young students.  The UK Government has always valued Nigerian students highly and we are delighted by NCUK’s initiative.  It will provide many opportunities to the most talented Nigerians who have their sights on an international career”

     

  • Actor offers scholarship to students

    An aspirant to the Lagos State House of Assembly, Desmond Olusola Elliot, has offered scholarship to 15 undergraduates of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN).

    He also paid for medical health insurance scheme for 20 elderly men and women in Surulere Constituency 1 through his campaign platform, DOE.

    The beneficiaries were given letters of admission to study at NOUN. The exercise was designed to boost academic performance and help beneficiaries acquire knowledge, Elliot said.

    Elliot, who also distributed health insurance certificates to the elders, assured that students will also be eligible for more scholarship if they excel in their education.

    Elliot told the beneficiaries: “You all should begin to think like undergraduates. Think of how to pass your examinations and make it big.”

    The Nollywood actor said he would continue to prioritise education because it is the bedrock of development.

     

  • Candidates get UTME scholarship Award

    The Special Adviser to Ondo State Governor on Forestry, Hon. Andrew Ogunsakin, has scholarship to the natives of Okitipupa community to write the 2015 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

    The beneficiaries were selected at an event organised by the Federation of Igbotako Students’ Union (FISU) in Igbotako, Ondo State. They will be given the forms next years.

    Ogunsakin said the scholarships was his own little way of giving back to the society, noting that he believed education was the best legacy the older people could bequeath to the youth.

    Ogunsakin, who is an Igbotako indigene, congratulated the beneficiaries and advised them to strive for success in the examination, assuring them of his support. He said the youth must have access to education for them to shun hooliganism and other vices.

    He said: “The scholarship is my own little way of contributing to the development of my community. I choose this path because education is the best legacy to give to any youth. I advise the beneficiaries to be focus because an educated person will not get involved in hooliganism and crimes.”

    The chairman of the event, Hon. Niyi Adebusoye, praised the benefactor for the gesture, saying the move would improve literacy in the community.

    Some of the beneficiaries who spoke thanked their benefactor, promising never to disappoint him and the community.

    Mr Tunde Akindeji, one of the beneficiaries’ parents, said the political class and the wealthy should emulate Ogunsakin’s gesture, adding that the effort would speed up development in the community.

    Comrade Jimoh Adebayo, FISU president, prayed for Ogunsakin, wishing him long life and peace of mind to make him do more for the youth in the area.

  • 10 win Daily Trust medical scholarship

    Ten medical students of the University of Ilorin, have won the N100,000 scholarship instituted by Media Trust Limited, publishers of Daily Trust, Weekly Trust, Sunday Trust and Aminiya. The beneficiaries, who are female medical students in three Northern universities, were selected based on their academic performance by trustees of the Medical Scholarship Scheme instituted by the media house seven years ago.

    The cheques were presented to them in a ceremony held at the College of Health Sciences in UNILORIN last week. The beneficiary universities were selected from the three geo-political zones in the North; one institution from each zone. The scholarship will be given to the students every year until the completion of their medical training.

    The beneficiary universities are the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), University of Maiduguri and Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto.

    The Provost, College of Health Sciences, UNILORIN, Prof Wahab Johnson, described the initiative as laudable, noting that the scholarship would encourage the female education.

    He said: “It is noteworthy that you have aptly selected the so-called weaker gender as beneficiaries of the scheme. This objective is to encourage and elevate women to compete favourably with their male counterpart. It is a laudable ideal.”

    Presenting the cheques to the beneficiaries on behalf of the company, the Administrative and Legal Officer, Mr Umar Ibrahim, said the gesture was part of the organisation’s corporate social responsibility (CSR), which was aimed at encouraging women to participate in building the society. He described medical profession as the lifeline of any country.

    The beneficiaries described scholarship as motivator to achieve academic excellence.

     

  • Corps member facilitates scholarship for seven orphans

    Though he is a National Youth Service Corps member, he has facilitated scholarships for seven orphans from nursery school to Primary 6.

    Samson Oluwagbemiga Bisiriyu from Lagos State serving with the Ikom local government area in Cross River State said the gesture was in fulfilment of the motto of the corps which is service and humanity.

    It was learnt scholarship was going to cost N13, 000 per session for each of the children per session till they are through.

    The corps member also printed and distributed 1, 500 exercise books to pupils in different schools as well as constructed a monument for the council.

    Bisiriyu, who studied Public Administration, Local Government Studies at the Polytechnic, Ibadan, is a batch C 2013 corps member.

    Our reporter who met with the corps member who said, “I have embarked on this because our motto is service and humanity and in this spirit I visited an orphanage and when I asked about their educational challenges they told me seven children could not go to school. I was touched. I took the seven names and approached the church, the Methodist Church, in Ikom. The Bishop chaplain accepted to assist me. So instead of putting them in public schools the church adopted them and put them in their own school and gave them free scholarship from nursery to primary school, for seven years for the seven children.

    “Also my primary assignment is at Ikom local government council, I observed there was nothing to show that it is a council. So as a public administrator I felt there was need for a sign so I constructed a statue with the mace of the legislature and cocoa which is the economic mainstay of the Ikom people. It’s the first of its kind and also to beautify the environment.

    “Also having seen the children going back to school without exercise books and due to poverty in this area, I discovered so many parents had challenges of buying exercise books so I decided to come in that area especially now that schools are reopening. So I decided to print 1500 exercise books for the children to help the parents. So when the children resume, they resume with books.”

    According to the corps member he had spent over N400, 000 on the projects, besides the scholarship.

    He said for the scholarship was handled by the church.

    On how he managed financially with his economic status as a youth corps member, he said, “There is nothing we cannot do with God. He has been helpful. He gave me the inspiration and gave provision for this.”

    Bisiriyu, who is also the Vice President of the MDGs CDS group in Ikom, he also got assistance from the chairman of council and other principal officers.

    Chairman of Ikom, Pastor Ojong Ayiba thanked the corps member for his kindness and service to the council.

    Also Mr Richard Ayaka, who is in charge of corps members in the council, urged others to emulate the gesture and always give their best wherever they are sent for their primary assignment.

  • Mass Comm students win scholarship

    Two students in the Department of Mass Communication at the Nasarawa State University, Keffi (NSUK) have won the 2014 Social Investment award (SIA) and the 2014/2015 NNPC/Chevron Nigeria Limited National University Scholarship Awards.

    The awards were instituted by Shell Petroleum Development Company Nigeria Limited and Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Cheveron Nigeria Limited.

    The students, Celina Atama Danladi and Monday Ovye Arigu, both from Nasarawa State,  get N75,000  and N100,000.

    The awarding firms said they expected continued academic performance at an acceptable level and satisfactory conduct from the students.

    Atama said: “I am delighted at this great opportunity and I will continue to do my best.” An elated Monday also said: “I am highly glad to have won the award. I really thank the NNPC/Chevron for the award. I wish to encourage other students who are interested to also apply.”

    The two were among the over one thousand candidates who sat for the computer-based scholarship tests in English and Mathematics at Chams City, Central Business District Abuja last April.

    The acting head of the Department, Malam Muhammad S. Rabiu said: “We continuously challenge our students to showcase their brilliant colours. We are happy they are flying high.”

  • 40 indigent students get Fawehinmi’s scholarship

    40 indigent students get Fawehinmi’s scholarship

    No fewer than 40 indigent  undergraduates  have been awarded Gani Fawehinmi Scholarship Awards.

    In a lecture titled: “The Law, the Lawyer and the Public Spirit: Gani Fawehinmi in Historical Perspective”, delivered at the award ceremony held last week, Professor Ademola Popoola of the Faculty of Law, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, decried the continuous falling standard of education in the country.

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    Popoola who spoke on  issues affecting the education sector in  Nigeria, at the event, which held at the late Fawehinmi’s Nigerian Law Publication House, Otunba Jobi Fele Way, CBD, Alausa, Ikeja, said anyone who has the interest of Nigeria at heart cannot but share the late Fawehinmi’s passion for education.

    The late Fawehinmi, according to him, beleived education to be the bedrock of sustainable national development and the pivot of progress.

    He said the problems of Nigeria’s educational system are legion, adding that access to it, funding, governance, quality and relevance are more telling.

    “It is indeed, a sad commentary that in 2014, education, in the appropriate metaphor of Professor S.O Awokoya, is still “The Crisis Child of Our Time”.

    “The percentages of failure recorded in the past four years ranged from 75.06 per cent in 2010, 44.66 per cent in 2011, 61.19 per cent in 2012 and 35.74 per cent in 2013, up to a whopping 70 per cent in 2014,” he said.

    According to the Law Professor, what the falling standard  portends for the country includes threat to the hopes and aspirations of the youths, who are the future and bedrock for any effective and sustainable development.

    “Regrettably, in most developing and underdeveloped countries of the world, including Nigeria where corruption, abject poverty, unemployment and disease have assumed a frightening dimension, the youth have become endangered species with bleak and uncertain future,” he said.

    The don commended the late  Fawehinmi for his initiative in addressing  some aspects of the crisis of education at the individual level. He blamed the crisis on long years of neglect, mal-administration and policy somersaults.

    “The late Chief Gani Fawehinmi had passion for education as he had for Law. In his life time, he meant many things to many people. Even in death, the memory of him and his good deeds is indelibly etched in the hearts of his teeming compatriots, particularly the down-trodden and the oppressed, whose lives he had touched in a lasting and remarkable way,” he said.

    Prof Popoola said the Senior Advocate of the Masses (SAM) conferred on Chief Gani Fawehinmi long before he became a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) was  not by accident.

    The late Fawehinmi, according to him, was the only recipient of such title, adding that any other claim to the title of SAM is fake and should be ignored.

    Dr. Dipo Fashina, who chaired the Gani Fawehinmi Scholarship Awards Board,  said the number of recipients was reviewed upward from 20 in 2012 to 40 this year because  the award was not given last year due to incessant strike of the tertiary institutions across the country.

    The number of recipients, he noted, may be increased in the future as the need arises.

    Dr. Fashina, a former President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, (ASUU) said the late Fawehinmi was concerned about Nigerian children who were very brilliant, but indigent.

    “There was another thing the late Chief Fawehinmi was concerned about, the disparities in the distribution of education in Nigeria. That there must be a reflection of the fact that there are bright students all over Nigeria,” Fashina said

    Over 1,000 students have so far been empowered through scholarship since the awards begun in 1973 by the Gani Fawehinmi Scholarship Awards  Board.

     

  • Much ado about Rivers govt’s scholarship scheme

    Much ado about Rivers govt’s scholarship scheme

    Shortly after Rotimi Amaechi became the governor of Rivers State, he established the Rivers State Sustainable Development Agency (RSSDA). One of the mandates of the agency is to sponsor deserving students to further their education. Of recent, the scheme has been enmeshed in controversy, writes BISI OLANIYI in Port Harcourt 

    The Rivers State Chairman of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Felix Obuah,  sounded like a man sure of his facts. He also wore the toga of a man speaking for the oppressed. But, those who should know have said the man was simply playing games with the issue. The kernel of the PDP chief’s speech was: the Rivers State Sustainable Development Agency (RSSDA) was planning to recall the students on overseas scholarship.

    He also accused the Rotimi Amaechi administration of not keeping its promises to Rivers people.

    Obuah claimed that he was reacting to the cries of students who were sent to the United Kingdom by the Rivers State government in 2010 to study Medicine, but allegedly given a marching order by the agency to come home, when they were yet to start their medical programme (MBBS).

    He alleged that the RSSDA ordered the stoppage of the payment of the students’ upkeep and accommodation allowances, which he described as deceitful, a breach of contract and a fraud, claiming that millions of naira had been voted for the programme.

    The Rivers PDP chairman asked Amaechi and the RSSDA to consider the far-reaching implications of forcing the students to return home, without clearing their indebtedness to the UK institutions, which he described as a criminal case. This, said Obuah, could make the institutions to blacklist the students and deny them the possibility of travelling abroad for further studies or any other business in the future.

    Obuah said: “We have been vindicated in our allegation that Governor Amaechi has emptied the Rivers State treasury on sponsorship of the All Progressives Congress (APC), which he has consistently denied. Which other reason could compel Amaechi and his pet agency, the RSSDA, to stop the students on state scholarship halfway, rather than lack of funds?

    “The students have neither completed their programmes nor  has Amaechi got the trained and qualified personnel to keep his so-called super health centres afloat, yet he wants those sent out to acquire these skills to come home without qualifying, simply because the state is broke

    “We are demanding that the move to recall these students, without completing their programmes, be stopped forthwith or the billions of naira already claimed to have been spent on the aggrieved, but deceived Rivers State scholarship beneficiaries be refunded to Rivers people.”

    Obuah also stated that he thought the idea of starting a project and not finishing it, before jumping to the other, was only restricted to infrastructural development, while claiming that the Rivers governor had extended it to human capital development, which was described as unacceptable.

    But, the Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer of the RSSDA, Mr. Noble Pepple, said there was no truth in Obuah’s claim.

    Pepple said: “As an agency responsible for the development of qualified manpower for Rivers State, it will be counter intuitive for us to force our students to return home before the completion of their studies. That will negate the objective of the scholarship scheme.

    “The RSSDA was recently approached by parents of a group of 17 scholars, who were among a number of applicants awarded scholarship by the agency to study for first degree in Medicine or medically-related courses in 2010.

    “Unfortunately, they could not gain admission for Medicine, after their pre-degree (foundation) programme and they settled for medically-related courses, such as Pharmacy, Bio-Medical Sciences and Physiotherapy. The scholars, who have now graduated in these fields, with their full allowances fully paid to the end of their studies in July 2014, have turned around to demand fresh sponsorship from the agency to study Medicine.

    “These medically-related disciplines, from which the scholars have qualified, are also needed in the healthcare delivery system in the state. Besides, it would only be fair that having benefitted from the state sponsorship for their first degree, other deserving candidates are given similar opportunity.”

    Since the inception of the Governor’s Special Overseas Scholarship Scheme in 2008, the executive director disclosed that the agency had placed almost two thousand deserving young Rivers State men and women in top-ranking universities across the world, with the initiative taking over 70 per cent of the RSSDA’s annual budget.

    Pepple said by the end of September 2014, nearly one thousand of the students would have fully completed their studies, majority with flying colours, while stressing that the remaining are still in the programme and would continue to enjoy the full sponsorship of the government.

    Shortly after Amaechi became the Governor of Rivers State, he established the RSSDA, with the aim of empowering lives and creating better future for Rivers state and its people.

    Amaechi said at the inauguration of the RSSDA: “Our mission is to serve our people with humility and render transparent and accountable stewardship, anchored on integrity and good governance. We shall use our God-given resources to improve the quality of life of our present and future generations, and empower our people in a peaceful, just and harmonious society under God.”

    The pioneer executive director of RSSDA, Mr. Bolaji Ogunseye, who was seconded from the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC), like Pepple, tried his best.

    Pepple, during the presentation of the agency’s 2013 annual report in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, last Friday, said the future of RSSDA was bright, in spite of the challenges.

    He revealed at the presentation that the 2013 report was the agency’s fourth, since 2010, when RSSDA began to publish an account of its activities to its stakeholders.

    The executive director disclosed that of the 249 graduates from the agency’s overseas scholarship, eleven physically-challenged students graduated from top universities in the United Kingdom, Canada and India, with flying colours.

    He said the agency, through  Amaechi’s overseas scholarship scheme, awarded 312 scholarships, with greater focus on medical and health-related disciplines.

    Pepple described 2013 as a tough year for the RSSDA, in view of the inhibiting funding constraints experienced in 2012, which he said became more severe last year, thereby impacting virtually all the agency’s planned activities.

    He said in spite of the challenges, RSSDA learnt to be more creative and innovative, making it to meet some of its commitments and mandate, with the efforts noticed within and outside Nigeria, through awards of excellence.

    The executive director said: “Our programmes suffered major setbacks, due to the funding challenge faced during the year. Of the N10 billion budget allocated to the agency for 2013, we had received only N4 billion by the end of the year. An additional N2 billion was received in 2014. We were unable to meet our payment obligations to our scholars and their universities overseas in a timely manner.

    “By the end of the year (2013), we had incurred accumulated debts owed to universities overseas, scholarship implementing agents, local vendors and service providers, amounting to N4 billion. As a result, we were unable to conduct the annual scholarship test and interview for the award of new scholarships into the programme for the 2014/2015 session.”

    In spite of the challenges, he noted that the RSSDA received two significant recognitions during the year: “HR best Practice Award in the Public Sector in Nigeria,” from the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management and “African Government Agency of the Year 2013,” by the African Leadership Magazine Award Committee in USA, for the monumental work done by the agency in developing the human capital in Rivers State.

    The executive director stated that the agency continued the development of its Songhai Rivers Initiative, with the introduction of improved crop and soil management technologies at the Songhai Farm in Tai Local Government Area of the state.

    He said progress was also made in setting up the first agro-support centre at Onne in Eleme LGA of the state, which is connected to the Songhai farm and also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT) to train its students at the Songhai farm.

    Pepple lauded Amaechi for the RSSDA’s initiative, stressing that the governor’s trust and support had been instrumental to the agency’s success.

    While also assessing the performance of the agency, its Chairman, Rev. Canon Precious Omuku, also noted that 2013 was a challenging year, especially with the funding constraint. Omuku reiterated that the agency struggled to meet its obligations to beneficiaries of its scholarship programme, stressing that the challenges that lie ahead would become even greater, with limited resources, but noted that emphasis must always be placed on poverty alleviation and improvement in the quality of life of Rivers people.

    According to the RSSDA’s report, by the end of last year, 1,962 students had been awarded scholarships for undergraduate and postgraduate studies in overseas universities. Some have completed their courses, while others are still studying and at various stages in their chosen courses, costing N23.7 billion.

    During the year, 312 students (238 undergraduates and 74 postgraduates) were awarded scholarships to study overseas. Of the number, 149 travelled to their study destinations in 2013, bringing the total number of students studying overseas to 1,072, with the scholars currently studying at various higher institutions in twelve countries.

    Higher consideration was given to medical students applying to study at postgraduate level. Of the 74 postgraduate awards made in 2013, scholars in medical and health sciences took up 20 places.

    The agency also established opportunities for students to study Medicine at universities in the Caribbean and the Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic, to accommodate the additional placement for medical studies. With the additions, RSSDA was able to increase the number of students studying medicine by 56, bringing the total to 89.

    During the year, Urban and Regional Development was also added to the portfolio of overseas courses for which scholarships were awarded at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, to accommodate the rising and urgent need for qualified professionals and provide support for the new Greater Port Harcourt City project, with five awards made for the course in 2013.

    The RSSDA, in 2013, had the highest number of graduating and returning students since the programme started in 2008. The report indicated that 249 students graduated and returned to Rivers state from the United Kingdom (138), India (77), Singapore (26), Canada (7) and the United States of America (1). Of the 138 students from the UK, five graduated with First Class, while another made a Distinction.

    With the 77 students returning from India and 26 from Singapore, the state now has 258 qualified ICT graduates from both countries, with the remaining students to complete their studies in both countries in 2014, following which the sponsorship to the countries would draw to a close.

    In 2010, Amaechi launched a scholarship scheme, specifically to provide opportunities for people living with physical disability to study overseas, with 26 beneficiaries so far. During the year, eleven of the physically-challenged students graduated from Nottingham Trent University, UK. Daniel Nlemogu and Betty Alali Odema are among them.

    Nlemogu achieved a First Class Honours Degree in Law. Upon returning to Rivers State, he received an award of excellence from the Rivers State Ministry of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation. He recently received a second scholarship award from Amaechi to pursue a Master’s degree programme.

    He said: “RSSDA’s scholarship programme has developed me academically and otherwise, as I always strive to be the best wherever I find myself. Sincerely, my life has been transformed as a result of the RSSDA’s scholarship programme.

    “My future plan is to do what would make me give back to the society, particularly Rivers State, for the huge investment made in my life. I want to thank God Almighty for how He has led me thus far. I could not have been at this stage of my life without God and the support of the RSSDA.”

    Nlemogu was also grateful to the NGF chairman for giving the agency human-oriented programmes and for giving him a sense of belonging.

    Another outstanding, but physically-challenged graduate of the overseas scholarship scheme, Odema, also graduated from the Nottingham Trent University with honours in International Relations in 2013. She received the Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Outstanding Personal Achievement.

    For her good performance, Odema recently received a second scholarship award from Amaechi to pursue higher degrees in the UK and has already commenced her M.Sc. programme at the University of Coventry.

    Odema, in an interview, said: “Growing up in the Port Harcourt Cheshire Home, under very difficult environment, did not deter me from dreaming big, by aiming higher. The Rivers State Government picked me from a low level of life and gave me wings to fly and hope for a better future.

    “You (Rivers State Government) have sown for my future and the future of our dear state. I have a lot to offer. I want to be an inspiration to the physically challenged and the able-bodied persons and a testimony to the lasting legacy of the Amaechi’s administration’s investment in the youths of Rivers State.”

    Odema also expressed gratitude to the Rivers governor and the people of the state for the great opportunity given to her to obtain a high-quality education in the UK.

    A native of Umuagbai-Ndoki in Oyigbo Local Government Area of Rivers state, Nwabueze Dike, is a 2008 graduate of Mechanical Engineering from the University of Port Harcourt, but had the privilege of studying at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, United Kingdom, through the opportunity offered him by the RSSDA’s overseas postgraduate scholarship scheme in 2012.

    He stated that the scholarship enabled him to study for M.Sc. Subsea Engineering and graduated with Distinction in November 2013.

    Dike said: “Studying such a multidisciplinary course (Subsea Engineering) at postgraduate level, in a multicultural setting, was very interesting and challenging, considering the new environment, team, weather conditions and teaching methods, which I had to cope with.

    “The school, teaching staff and course modules were excellent, as the lectures and courses, including final examination, were drawn from current oil and gas industry practice, projects and challenges around the world.

    “As a Subsea Engineer, I have gained knowledge in the design, construction, installation and maintenance of subsea systems and networks required for deep and ultra-deep water oil and gas production. Through the scholarship/study, I have gained international exposure, practised UK work ethics and social responsibility and mutual respect for team members.

    “Now that I have improved myself, I want to give back to the society by transferring the skills I have acquired to the young, as well as up and coming engineers of Rivers State origin, aspiring to be part of the subsea business in the oil and gas industry.”

    Dike also stated that he was at the final stage of starting a free programme, aimed at grooming college students with relevant computer skills required for further studies in higher institutions home and abroad.

    The subsea engineer suggested to the RSSDA to incorporate into the scheme, a method of integrating their scholars into the relevant industry, after their study. So that the knowledge gained would be applied upon graduation.

    RSSDA also has other scholarship schemes, especially the Greater Horizon Opportunities Programme (GHOP), where students from poor homes are given the opportunity of attending the best secondary schools across Nigeria. Five of them graduated in 2013, the remaining 127 will graduate this year, except one, for health reason. One of the beneficiaries is Miss Faith Okwelle.

    Okwelle said: “If RSSDA had not intervened in my educational life, I would have attended the secondary school in my village, instead of the one I now attend and of course, the outputs of both schools are obviously different. The standard of teaching in Brookstone Secondary School makes me stand out, whenever I interact with my mates from other schools.

    “I have the opportunity to meet with other brilliant children and to go for excursions outside the country. RSSDA’s GHOP scholarship has helped my family to save the money my parents would have used in training me to invest in other things. This has helped my family’s income tremendously.”

    The GHOP beneficiary (Okwelle) also lauded Amaechi for bringing her and others out of the slums, through the scholarship programme.

    In 2011, the RSSDA launched a scheme to promote the study of agriculture and increase enrolment of Rivers state indigenes in agricultural courses at the Rivers State University of Science and Technology (RSUST), Port Harcourt.

    The scheme involved providing financial support to pay fees and upkeep allowances for students of Rivers State origin, who enrol to study agricultural courses (Crop Science, Fisheries, Animal Science and Forestry) at the RSUST.

    RSSDA continued its commitment to the scheme during the year, by providing support for an additional 39 students, increasing enrolment in agriculture at the RSUST to 57 students by last December.

     

     

     

  • Scholarship for best post-UTME candidates

    THE University of Ibadan (UI) has released the results of the post-Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

    At a press conference at the Senate Chamber, the Vice-Chancellor (VC), Prof Isaac Adewole, said of the 8,844 candidates, who sat for the exam, over 6,000 scored above 50 per cent. No fewer than 2,351 failed; 226 were absent.

    The school’s Admission Committee chairman, Prof James Olopade, said management had approved the award of scholarship to the best six candidates in the examination. He said the scholarship would be subjected to their fulfillment of the university’s admission requirements.

    The awardees, according to him,  included Oluwakayode Animasahun; Efeturi Ajari; Olawale Ojo; Oluwaferanmi Omitoyin and Matthew Aremu.

    He said the university was working to surmount the challenges it encountered during the examination.