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Tag: scholarship

  • Fawehinmi scholarship interview

    Fawehinmi scholarship interview

    The Gani Fawehinmi yearly scholarship interview for the Southwest zone will hold on September 9, at the Nigerian Publications House, Otunba Jobi Fele Way, Alausa, Ikeja by 10a.m.

    A statement by the Chairman and Secretary of the scholarship board, Dr. Dipo Fashina and Ugwuzor Adindu said the interview was decentralised to make it accessible to indigent students for which it was meant.

    The board stated that 40 students are to benefit in this year’s awards and each of them will receive N100,000.

    It advised brilliant indigent students in tertiary institutions that are yet to apply to do so.

  • Sokoto votes N246m for students scholarship abroad

    About N246.17 million has been earmarked by the Sokoto State government  for the sponsorship of 143 indigenes of the state in Bangladesh, Sudan and Niger Republic.

    Governor Aliyu Wamakko, who disclosed this in Sokoto while delivering his farewell message to the beneficiaries of the gesture drawn from the 23 local governments of the state said students were drawn from various courses cutting across Medicine, Pharmacy, Engineering, Medical Laboratory Science and Nursing, among others.

    He said the gesture was an addition to similar ones since 2007 to date.

    He said: “Currently, there are various indigenes of the state undergoing numerous graduate and post-graduate programmes in African countries, Asia and Europe, among others.

    “This is to help in bolstering the state’s manpower and we had ensured equal representation of the beneficiaries from the 23 local governments of the state.”

    Wamakko said further that the gesture was aimed at providing the much-needed medical and other skilled manpower for the state and the country in general. He promised to do everything possible to restore the lost glory of the state as a centre of learning.

    He warned students not to allow themselves to be dissuaded by foreign influence, adding: “You should excel in learning and conduct, be law abiding, as well as be of good behaviour, ceaselessly as good ambassadors and image makers of Nigeria.“

    The students’ spokesman, Abdul-Aziz Gada, thanked Wamakko for the gesture, pledging that they would live above board in their studies.

  • Catholic group offers scholarship

    A GROUP, the Young Christian Workers Movement (YCM) of Nigeria, has offered scholarship to some secondary pupils in Ajegunle-Apapa, Lagos.

    The highest award winner gets N100,000, while the second and third runners up  got N50,000 each. The number of winners has increased to six and September 2  has been fixed for the sixth edition.

    According to YCM president, Clementina Ego, the initiative is meant to inculcate in the children the spirit of competiveness. It is open to both Christians and Muslims. She said participants must be residents of Ajegunle

    She said:  “Interestingly, a Muslim child has won in this project at our centre and other winners had emerged from non-Catholic denomination. The spirit is for people to embrace it as our project and not just a Catholic thing.

    “The movement has both married and singles as members and we put our resources together and all spent by our centre for the past five years had come from our members. We have not received anything from anybody, whether from a corporate body or the church. But we feel we have got to a level where we will need corporate sponsorship for the sixth edition because we plan to increase the number of scholarship and the money to be awarded in the spirit of the next edition.

    Ego, a former head of the education committee of theYCM, continued: “We also plan to make it more embracing by reaching out to more schools because this will increase the competitiveness. This fifth edition was able to increase enrolment from 25 to 48 schools.

    “Sincerely, it has not been easy but, we are glad that it is a project that has come to stay and we are not stopping on anything less than giving our very best to the project and to children of this local government. Initially, when we started, it used to include both junior and senior pupils, but along the line, we observed unseriousness in the senior ones, so we concentrated on Primary Four, Five and Six.

    “The idea, again, is that the money being given might not be too much, but we are confident that the money covers tuition for the winner for three terms in any school in Ajegunle. From our survey, an average tuition for schools in Ajegunle is N15,000 and the prize money for our third position is N50,000, so you see the that prize is able to cover three terms for the third place winner.

    “But with a corporate sponsor, we should be able to increase the number of beneficiaries and possibly the amount, and in that vein, we target to increase winners to 10. Then, we plan to include a Charity Award: this type will automatically go to any participating child that has lost both parents. But in the spirit of the fifth year edition, we planned to include the Charity Award, but incidentally there was none that qualified.”

    The group was founded by the late Catholic Priest, Cardinal Joseph Card Jin in Belgium in 1925.

    She said: “The scholarship arm of St. Mary Catholic started five years ago. Though we started very small, it has grown to an enviable level, as we have used it to impact on the entire community. In terms of both registration and attendance, this fifth edition recorded the highest enrolment for the examination and qualification for the scholarship does not exclude anybody; whether a Catholic or not. It does not matter whether in public schools or private. It is immaterial whether male or female.”

    “We have been very careful not to host the examination at a given school to avoid the sentiment of being accused of promoting any particular school, even as several schools, have volunteered their halls.”

  • Nigerians benefit from UK scholarship programme

    Nigeria has been listed as one of the countries to benefit from scholarships under the Scholarship UK programme.

    Mrs. Olanike Fadahunsi, Business Development Manager, Knowledge Development Opportunities (KDO) Inspire, whose firm is driving initiative in Nigeria, said the programme would encourage Nigerians to get training abroad that can fast-track the country’s development.

    She said the scholarship, which provides up to 70 per cent tuition fee-waiver, was made possible by some organisations which came together to make education abroad more affordable, and to facilitate cultural exchange.

    In the United Kingdom (UK), the average cost for tuition is between £9000 and £14000 for postgraduate courses, but with the programme students can study for less than £4000 pounds (about N640,000).

    Apart from the UK, she added that students can now apply to institutions in Russia, Belarus, Cyprus, Malaysia and China.

    She said: “Scholarship UK is a programme organised by several partner universities and education consultancies around the world. Although initially intended to provide scholarships and tuitions waivers for UK universities, the programme has opened up to other countries…and the list keeps growing.

    “Governments are also getting involved and sponsoring indigenes of their states. Recently, the Enterprise Bank started offering loans which cover the portion of fees not covered by the waiver to make things even more convenient for parents and guardians.

    “The benefits cannot be quantified when our graduates return from foreign countries and begin to apply the expertise they have gained over their course of study. Parents are proud because employers seem to show favouritism to these graduates.”

    She said prospective students would take a test tagged “The Europe Connect Scholarship and Tuition Waiver Test (ECSTWT)” after registering online.  Those successful are then allowed to select the most suitable university from the options availbale.

  • Akwa Ibom indigenes seek review of Amnesty Office’s scholarship beneficiaries

    Many indigenes of Akwa Ibom are not happy with the Amnesty Office. Reason: they say the office’s recently released list of beneficiaries of one of its scholarship scheme is skewed against their state. They say the list did not reflect their state’s status as a major oil-bearer.

    One of those who have spoken against the list is the pioneer National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Anietie Okon.

    During the week, he decried  the 254 names published by the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta as  the beneficiaries of the special scholarship programme for students from the Niger Delta.

    He said: “We are forced to question whether the Office of the Special Adviser on Amnesty is still representing the interest of the people of the region, given the persistent exclusivity that has become evident in the execution of the brief and mandate of the office.”

    Okon, a delegate representing Akwa Ibom State at the National Conference, reacting to the list, urged President Goodluck Jonathan to draw the attention of the Special Adviser on Niger Delta, Kingsley Kuku, to what he termed a grave and an unacceptable anomaly with its attendant capacity to undermine the intent and standing of governments and the leadership of the region.

    The office on August 1 published  a list of 254 people as the beneficiaries of the special scholarship programme for students from the Niger Delta, who passed the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) and are qualified for admission into the universities.

    According to the list, of a total of 254 beneficiaries, Akwa Ibom got three; Bayelsa, 102; Cross River, three; Delta, 55; Edo, 10; Imo, 10; Ondo, 43 and Rivers, 28.

    Okon noted that it was embarrassing for a state like Akwa Ibom, the leading oil producing state, to be allocated only three; Edo State, the cradle of knowledge to get only 10, while Bayelsa got 102.

    He stressed that it was a confirmation of the narrow prismed understanding “of the dynamics of our political survival realities and an unfortunate exhibition of misplaced callous insensitivity as well as political naivety”, adding that the move was capable of  “damaging the cohesion and shared common interest of the people of the region.”

    He added: “It is a callous act of insensitivity and political naivety on the part of the Special Adviser on Niger Delta, to posit that justice and transparency prevailed where only three students from Akwa Ibom and Cross River states and 10 from Edo State enjoyed the scholarship. This can damage the purpose of the intervention initiative. It makes nonsense of the call for unanimity in the area. The mindless impunity implied is as grievous as it is equally pathetic.  How can they explain this absence of rationality? It is unacceptable. I demand that those responsible for this outrage get real.”

    The Ekid people of Akwa Ibom also flayed the list.

    In a letter to Hon. Bassey Dan-Abia jnr, member,representing Eket Federal Constituency

    House of Representatives, they said: “When we read the story, our first impression was to thank God almighty that you are still in the House of Representatives, contrary to the impression in the minds of our people in Eket(Eket/Onna/Esit Eket/Ibeno) Federal Constituency, that we have nobody in that hallowed “Green” Chamber since the 2012 eclipse.?

    ”Further note that, our concern in the story at hand is that of alarm and outrage. We can still not comprehend, how a member representing a core oil state, one that you rightly noted, holds the reputation as the highest oil producing state, would have stood by and the entire processes of award of scholarship for oil producing states are completed and published without even a slot for Eket Federal Constituency.?

    ”Aware that, the process may have commenced with the advertisement of the award, then proceeded to the stage of application, screening and then shortlisting of qualified applicants, before the announcement of those selected.?

    ”Further aware that, in all of these stages, our member never deemed it expedient to alert his people on what was going on. The youths of this constituency were never in any way informed of what was going on to enable them even apply.?

    ”Worried that, it appears our honourable member was held up in his infamous “bird house theatre of absurdities” when other representatives in the House,were lobbying for their people, only for him to wake up with a self-serving press statement when all the processes had been concluded.?

    ”Further worried that, we do not understand what you  as our honourable member sort to achieve by issuing an ineffectual press release, when you have all the legislative powers of oversight, appropriation and other instruments and network at your disposal to tame the angst. Not to worry; we understand. You cannot give what you do not have. Your belated show of Dutch-courage cannot fool anybody, because we are sure you don’t even know where the Amnesty(Kuku’s) office is located in Abuja.?

    “Regret to mourn with you the loss of yet another opportunity to invest in the lives of young people in our constituency and hasten to tell you that, we are not in the least surprised at this turn of event. Honourable member, why this sudden feeble attempt at “fighting” for your people? Where were you all this time when our constituency as a major oil bearing area has lost out in various other federal government initiatives meant for oil producing areas??

    ”Disturbed and want to know where you placed Eket Federal Constituency’s interest on the interventionist programmes by the same Amnesty office such as Overseas Special Scholarship Programme and Retooling/Skill Acquisition in Welding, Fabrication, Piloting, Instrument, payment of skill gap stipends? How far have you gone in the protection and actualization of the projects your predecessor facilitated in the National Budget including NTA Channel 35, Eket; 8no.Primary Health centres at Akpautong; Uquo; Edor; Etebi; Okat; Ikot Ntan Ide; Afaha Atai; Ikot Nkan, which contracts were awarded by the Primary Health Development Agency and equipment supplied; even as we continue to face challenging public health predicament in our Constituency?Again, what has happened to the Ntan Ide-Ikot Udo bridge, onna; Cross River Basin Irrigation and Canal farm at Onna;Upenekang e-library;the Federal Ministry of Environment Mkpok-Okat Erosion Control/Drainage Contract; agricultural infrastructure in Nduo Eduo, Eket.”

  • Five bag lawmaker’s scholarship

    It was a moment of joy for five students of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK) in Awka, the Anambra State capital. They were given scholarship by the lawmaker representing Njikoka 1 Constituency in the State House of Assembly, Hon. Valentine Ayika.

    The lawmaker said the scholarship was borne out of his desire to lighten the burden of his constituents through education. The scholarship covered tuition fee for one academic session.

    Ayika gave the scholarship to the students shortly after delivering a lecture at the Department of Mass Communication to mark the Legislative Day organised by the Association of Mass Communication Students (ASOMACS).

    The event was part of activities lined up for the students’ Week.

    The beneficiaries were Goodness Okeke, Emmanuel Obiekezie, Prudence Ihegboro and Isaac Ibeabuchi, all diploma students.

    Others were Chidiebere Uzowuihe and Ugochi Iwuchukwu, both in 200-Level Mass Communication.

    The lawmaker said he derived joy from putting smiles on the faces of the people, especially the indigent. He reassured the students of his commitment to improving the conditions of living of the people in his constituency.

    Ayika spoke on History of the legislative arm in the government, saying for any society to move forward, the leaders must ensure the independence of the legislature.

    He said: “The legislature has not only enriched our culture but has nurtured, developed and deployed human resources to the other arms of the government, especially the executive arm to engender development.”

    Ayika advised the students to maximise their stay on the campus, urging them to make good use of their time and resources to become better citizens after graduation.

    He promised to sponsor 30 students from the department on an excursion to the assembly where they would have opportunity to watch proceedings in the chamber and improve their understanding of the legislative arm of government.

    The ASOMACS Staff Adviser, Dr Chinwe Uzochukwu, who represented the Head of the department, Dr Ifeoma Dunu, praised the lawmaker for his benevolence, urging the beneficiaries to justify the scholarship by studying hard.

    Earlier, the Speaker of the association, Tochukwu Onyima, urged his colleagues to learn from the wealth of experience of the lawmaker.

    The ASOMACS president, Philip Muoghalu, hailed the lawmaker for considering the students for the scholarship. He urged the beneficiaries to make good use of the scholarship.

    Isaac, a beneficiary, thanked Ayika for the gesture, promising to do his best in his academic pursuit.

  • Ex-senator flays govt’s scholarship

    The pioneer National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Anietie Okon, decried yesterday  the 254 names published by the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta as  the beneficiaries of the special scholarship programme for students from the Niger Delta.

    He said: “We are forced to question whether the Office of the Special Adviser on Amnesty is still representing the interest of the people of the region, given the persistent exclusivity that has become evident in the execution of the brief and mandate of the office.”

    Okon, a delegate representing Akwa Ibom State at the National Conference, reacting to the list, urged President Goodluck Jonathan to draw the attention of the Special Adviser on Niger Delta, Kingsley Kuku, to what he termed a grave and an unacceptable anomaly with its attendant capacity to undermine the intent and standing of governments and the leadership of the region.

    The office on August 1 published  a list of 254 people as the beneficiaries of the special scholarship programme for students from the Niger Delta, who passed the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) and are qualified for admission into the universities.

    According to the list, of a total of 254 beneficiaries, Akwa Ibom got three; Bayelsa, 102; Cross River, three; Delta, 55; Edo, 10; Imo, 10; Ondo, 43 and Rivers, 28.

    Okon noted that it was embarrassing for a state like Akwa Ibom, the leading oil producing state, to be allocated only three; Edo State, the cradle of knowledge to get only 10, while Bayelsa got 102.

    He stressed that it was a confirmation of the narrow prismed understanding “of the dynamics of our political survival realities and an unfortunate exhibition of misplaced callous insensitivity as well as political naivety”, adding that the move was capable of  “damaging the cohesion and shared common interest of the people of the region.”

    “It is a callous act of insensitivity and political naivety on the part of the Special Adviser on Niger Delta, to posit that justice and transparency prevailed where

    only three students from Akwa Ibom and Cross River states and 10 from Edo State enjoyed the scholarship. This can damage the purpose of the intervention initiative. It makes nonsense of the call for unanimity in the area. The mindless impunity implied is as grievous as it is equally pathetic.  How can they explain this absence of rationality? It is unacceptable. I demand that those responsible for this outrage get real.”

  • 19 bag scholarship

    Nineteen Nigerian students have been awarded scholarship to do their Master’s in Australia next year, the Australia High Commissioner to Nigeria, Jonathan Richardson, has said.

    The scholarship is a programme of the Australian government.

    Richardson spoke at the launch of the Northwest and Northeast zones of the Australia Alumni Association in Nigeria in Kaduna. He said between 2010 and 2014, more than 200 students benefited, including 86 postgraduate scholarships.

    The envoy said the scholarship, which offers both long and short term study and professional development opportunities to citizens of developing countries, is aimed at providing enhanced leadership skill, knowledge and technical expertise for students to work in strategic organisations driving development.

    Richardson, who represented by the Third Secretary of the Commission, Mr Matthew Mechan, said a total of 923 Nigerians are stusying in Australian universities and vocational education school.

    He said: “We want to encourage Nigerians interested in studying abroad to consider Australia as an option, given the strong record and high quality of our universities and tertiary institutions.” He added that another scholarship window will open in September.

    He added: “Australian Scholarship Award covers a wide range of areas but is focusing on disciplines relevant to building government capacity including agriculture, food security, extractive industry, infrastructure, health and public policy.”

    The co-ordinator of the zone’s Australia Alumni in Nigeria, Dr Zainab Mohammed, said the establishment of the association was necessary to build influence and contract, and to facilitate contact between the alumni and Australia in pursuance of developmental goals.

    “We want to encourage Nigerians interested in studying aboard to consider Australia as an option, given its strong record and high quality tertiary institutions and to also take advantage of the scholarship,” she said.

    In his goodwill message, Kaduna State Commissioner for Health, Dr Joseph Thot, praised the Australian government for its magnanimity and educational support for Nigerian students.

  • Amnesty scholarship for 50 students

    Amnesty scholarship for 50 students

    About 50 students from the Niger Delta are to transit to universities in the United Kingdom and other countries after completing one-year foundation programmes at the Westerfield College, a private sixth form institution in Yaba, Lagos.

    They got scholarships from the Presidential Amnesty Programme for Niger Delta militants for the programme.

    This was disclosed in Lagos at the launch of the Westerfield’s American Transfer Pathway, which will guarantee that graduates of the school get automatic admission into any university of their choice in the United States.

    The event took place at the Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.

    Westfield’s Managing Director Michael Dosumu said the school had helped over 800 students secure admissions into foreign universities, especially in the United Kingdom (UK).   He said the institution was making a foray into the American school system.

    Dosumu said the school was replicating its partnership with the government on the Niger Delta students with various states.

    “We are going to approach state governments for partnership with the range of programmes we have. We have actually approached three states in the Southwest. We have approached one in the North and almost covered the Niger Delta. We are interested in covering Nigeria as much as possible,” he said.

    A representative of the Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Niger Delta, Dr Ebitim George, assured the college of the agency’s support in its drive to develop youths of the region.

    “The Presidential Amnesty programme supports Westerfield. Our children are currently studying in the school and we believe in the school’s efforts at providing quality education to our children,” he said.

    Lagos State Commissioner for Education Mrs Olayinka Oladunjoye, who was represented by Mrs Yinka Bello, said it is gratifying to know that Niger Delta youths are not agitating, but educating themselves. Parents, she explained, should be confident that the programme would benefit their children. The highlight of the programmes featured testimonies from both parents and students on how the programme has helped them.

  • Corp member’s scholarship for orphans

    Eleven orphans and less privileged children in Ugep community in Cross River State have benefitted from a free scholarship award by a serving corps member at Dr Okoi Arikpo Memorial Secondary School Ugep, Yakurr Local Government Area, Charity Nwankwo.

    Charity said the gesture was aimed at reducing mass literacy among orphans and imparting the lives of the less privileged.

    “After over four months of observation, it came to my knowledge that some of these children roam the streets because nobody could pay their school fees. So I decided to place the burden on myself,” she stated.

    The award presentation, which held at Government Secondary School Ugep, was witnessed by dignitaries from across the state including State Coordinator of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Engr Nkereke Igbangha; Chairman, Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) Ugep chapter, Chief Enang Ibang and administrators of various schools in Ugep.

    In a remark, the Local Government Inspector of Biase/Akampa, Mr Emmanuel Odoh, advised beneficiaries to work hard and be serious with their studies.

    He praised the organiser for the gesture, urging other corps members to emulate her action.

    Ibiang admonished the beneficiaries to utilise the opportunity and stay focused in their academics.

    Highpoint of the event was the presentation of learning materials, including notebooks, dictionaries, pens, rulers, textbooks, calculators, mathematical sets and uniforms to the pupils.