The Nation Newspaper

Tag: scholarship

  • Group initiates scholarship for 100 orphans

    No fewer than 100 young orphans are billed to receive educational support courtesy of the Royal Pillar Welfare Foundation, a faith-based non-governmental organisation.

    The scheme tagged Edu-Lifeline 100 was officially unveiled at the annual Easter royal banquet of the organisation penultimate week.

    Executive Secretary of the foundation, Deacon Bayo Jesuniyi, informed that the initiative will award scholarship and bursary to 100 indigent orphans every year.

    So far, 28 students are already on the scheme out of which 16 are in secondary schools and 10 in primary institutions, Jesuniyi added.

    He hinted that more will be accommodated under the scheme, which commenced this year, because of increasing requests.

    ”We believe these children will become people of substance if given educational lift and required assistance to make this dream become a reality,” he stated.

    He encouraged public-spirited Christians to adopt a child under the scheme for massive boost.

    President of the Praise Family Ministry International and Messiah Arena, the coordinating arm of the NGO, Pastor Abimbola Siyanbola, called for alliances with individuals, families, socio-religious organisations and corporate bodies to help indigent orphans.

    The representative of the Deputy Governor of Lagos, Mrs. Alaba Fadairo, commended the initiative and called on others to emulate the body.

    Stating that government cannot do it alone, she appealed to kind-hearted Nigerians to help accommodate more orphans under the scheme.

  • 127 indigent students get scholarship

    No fewer than 127 students from poor backgrounds have been given scholarship in Awka, the Anambra State capital, by a group known as Ambassador’s Club.

    The club said its decision to help the students was inspired by the developmental strides of Anambra State Governor Peter Obi, with whom the group said it was in talks to build a recreational club in the city.

    This was made known in the state capital when the member representing Awka South I, Hon Kenechukwu Chukwuemeka, of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) hosted the club members.

    The chairman of the club, Collins Ben Iloanya told reporters that the discussion with Governor Obi for the provision of land for the project had reached advanced stages.

    He said: “We want to build a legacy in this town for the future generation and that is also why we have been giving scholarships to indigent students up to university level.

    “Presently, we are building a hall in the town worth N500m, so what we want is a place where people can go, look around  and enjoy themselves especially during festive periods.

    “The club has respected members of the society as its patrons like Sen. Ben Ndi Obi, Lt-Gen. Isaac Obiakor (retd), among others,” Iloanya said.

    Furthermore, he said that the Ambassadors had spent more than N50 million in the scholarship scheme, adding that they want to extend it to other states in the near future.

    Also speaking, the state coordinator of Transform Nigeria Movement, Comrade Obi Ochije told reporters that what they are doing is in line with the policy of the Obi administration in developing the state.

    He said, “All hands are on deck to give Awka capital city a facelift and moreover, the less privileged people in the society will not be left out and not only indigent students but also the widows’’.

    The ACN lawmaker, Hon Kenechukwu Chukwuemeka, told reporters that the aim of the 22-year-old club is to bring enduring peace and unity not only in Awka but the entire Anambra State.

    “I am interested in peace, unity and development of this town; since our childhood days, we have never had it so good like this for like-minds coming together to lift the city,” the lawmaker said.

     

  • LG’s scholarship for students

    LG’s scholarship for students

    Ten students of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) benefited from the scholarship scheme of LG Electronics in a programme recently held in the institution. Each of the beneficiary whose high Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) qualified them for the scholarship, went home with $1,500 cheque to aid their education.

    During the presentation which took place in the LG Laboratory on the campus, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Rahman Bello, said the electronics firm started the scheme four years ago to rededicate students towards excellence.

    While acknowledging that education remained the bedrock of any developed economy, the VC charged the beneficiaries to make judicious use of the money and urged other students to work hard to achieve the feat.

    In his speech, Managing Director, LG Electronics West African Operations, Mr Deog Jun Kim, said education is the best legacy they could inherit. Promising that the gesture would be extended to other institutions, Kim admonished students to always be hungry for knowledge to be successful after their degree programmes.

    Some of the beneficiaries included Omotola Ajayi, 400-Level Electrical Engineering, Samuel Olabiyi, 400-Level System Engineering, Chibuikem Obiji, 400-Level Mechanical Engineering, Chinyere Okoro, 400-Level Mechanical Engineering, and Oluwadara Awe, 400-Level Oluwadara.

    Others are Gbenga Taiwo, 500-Level Mechanical Engineering, Olamide Folarin, 500-Level Mechanical Engineering, Rukayat Odubanjo, Mechanical Engineering, Oladele Adeyeye, 500-Level System Engineering, Samuel Ekwo, 500-Level System Engineering.

     

  • KC pupil wins scholarship for selling ticket

    KC pupil wins scholarship for selling ticket

    Most scholarships are awarded on the basis of brilliance or indigence. However neither was at play when Mohammed Kehinde Badmus got a scholarship to complete his junior secondary education during the cultural day programme of King’s College, Lagos last Friday.

    All he did was to sell the ticket that won the star prize for the PTA hostel project raffle draw to Mr Rasheed Olalekan Anifowose, his neighbour.

    But Principal of the college, Otunba Dele Olapeju said Kehinde was deserving of reward because of his obedience.

    “The boy faithfully carried out his assignment in King’s College. For the rest of his JSS he will come in and go without paying anything. His tuition, laundry, PTA levy will be on the school,” Olapeju said.

    This was delightful news for the boy and his father, Mr Olamilekan Badmus, a retired police officer.

    The JSS2 pupil said: “I feel happy. At least I will not give my daddy stress to work for money for fees.”

    Indeed, it will reduce the financial burden on Mr Badmus, who said apart from Kehinde and his twin sister, who attends the Federal Government College, Ijanikin, he still caters for another set of twins.

    “I am very happy about this because we have another set of twins,” he said.

    Thanking the King’s College PTA for organising the raffle draw that won him a brand new Hyundai Accent car, Mr Anifowose said he would have lost out if he threw away the stubs.

    “As at last weekend I actually stumbled upon the stubs for the ticket and I was going to throw them away. Something told me not to. On Sunday I checked my phone to discover that someone had called me 13 times. When I returned the call I was told I won the star prize. Just last week my friend won a car,” he said.

    There would have been no car or raffle draw if not for the five-storey hostel building project of the PTA, which its chairman, Mr Emmanuel Oriakhi said has already reached the third floor. He described the hostel project as the biggest of such in Nigeria.

    “We are about to complete three floors of the five-storey hostel. The Minister of State for Education said this is the biggest PTA project in Nigeria. From the raffle, we set our target to raise about N20 million. We did not reach that target but we made close to it,” he said.

    When completed, Oriakhi said the hostel would end the school’s acute accommodation problem.

    “Right now, the students are sleeping two on a narrow bed. Some even have to sleep on the floor. But when the hostel is complete, it will solve the accommodation problem in the main campus. Who says we cannot replicate the project in the annex as well,” he said.

     

  • Another look at Jonathan’s scholarship scheme

    Another look at Jonathan’s scholarship scheme

    Last year, President Goodluck Jonathan registered his displeasure over the statistics of the National Universities Commission (NUC), which stated that 60 per cent of lecturers in Nigerian universities have no doctorate degree. The President, in his wisdom, decided to work out a scholarship scheme for the lecturers to make them obtain their doctorate degrees.

    Furthermore, the President decided to send about 25 graduates of universities, who made First Class, these “best brains”, as he called them, to top class 25 universities abroad. This suggests that the President admitted that our own universities are not equipped to impact the kind of knowledge he desires for the young intelligent men.

    To some of us, the idea is laudable and innovative, considering that these First Class graduates achieved such feat under harsh conditions, such as archaic libraries and unsupportive learning environment and literature badly lifted from the internet.

    However, it should be emphasised that the trend of lecturers teaching without doctorate degrees is not good for our universities. There is an urgent need to improve the quality of teaching and research. Given the hurried manner the scheme was packaged, I began to doubt the raison d’etre of the president’s intention to send First Class graduates abroad as the critical way out.

    Sending these geniuses outside the country for further studies is not bad after all. But the idea has raised questions that are begging for answers.

    From the data obtained from the Secretary-General, Committee of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities, Prof Michael Faborode, in a published article in a national daily entitled The trouble with Nigeria universities, the don stated categorically that Nigeria had 15,000 students studying in the United Kingdom and the figure may likely increase to 30,000 by 2015.

    Some 7,000 are in the United States and 1,500 in Canadian universities. With the revelation of the number of Nigerians studying in renowned universities abroad, in addition to others in developed countries, one would wonder what will become of these foreign-trained graduates after the completion of their studies abroad. Already, there are many foreign-trained graduates still looking for jobs.

    Why have these graduates not gainfully employed with their expertise? Is it that the environment they find themselves in Nigeria is not conducive in relation to the one they were exposed abroad? What noticeable difference have they made to the academic sector that makes them different from their locally produced colleagues?

    But the reality is that most of them are back in the country and the question to ask is whether the federal government has made any considerable attempt to employ those with a doctorate degree except the multinationals who exploit their potentials in a non-academic environment. It didn’t come as surprise to me when Delta State Commissioner of Police, Mr Ikechukwu Aduba, announced last year that the most wanted kidnapper in the state is a doctorate degree holder in Mechanical Engineering.

    The poser for the government is: what difference would the “best brains” make when they come back home? Methinks sending graduates abroad for study is not the best when their counterparts who were also trained abroad have not been usefully engaged.

    In another words, sending first class graduates abroad to acquire more knowledge to improve the quality of teaching and research in our universities without addressing the rot in the system will ultimately produce no significant result. Come to think of it, what meaningful step has the federal government made of the Needs Assessment Panel it set up to evaluate the problems and challenges facing public universities?

    The Prof Mahmood Yakubu –led committee came out with its findings and it is still obvious nothing has been done to tackle the anomalies in the report. It has been reported by the committee that less than 10 per cent of our public universities have video conferencing facility, less than 20 per cent use interactive boards while more than 50 per cent do not use public address systems in their lecture halls.

    In as much this type of decay still persists, we do not expect any miracle from the “best brains” when they come back with their loaded brain.

    Aside the prestige, it is needless to say that these graduates will be frustrated at the end of the day and may eventually take an exit route out of the system at the completion of the five years mandate to work as a researcher. Well, the president has even made it crystal clear to them that they could opt out for a different career after the expiration of the mandate. Now, another question: what then is the usefulness, relevance or value of the scholarship scheme when the trained graduates will be sent out of the system after five years?

    In a nutshell, the scholarship scheme looks more or less like a wasteful adventure that lacks purpose and significance. Mind you, it is a good idea but it is ill-conceived by the president. After all, I do not expect these “best brains” to grumble over incessant strikes associated with Nigerian universities when they join their colleagues back home, since these same universities produced them. The difference is that they have seen the world outside their home country and they must adjust to it as some have done before them. They must be ready to carry the banners of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to embark on solidarity missions even against their benefactor who sent them abroad. If I may ask once again, what will be the fate of locally produced doctorate degree holders when their foreign trained colleagues are rated above them? Sadly, the president has demonstrated to parents, through the scheme, that they must work hard to send their wards outside the country if they yearn for a qualitative education.

    Taiwo, a Corps member, NYSC IBADAN

  • Council’s scholarship lifts students

    Council’s scholarship lifts students

    To fulfil from its promise to students from Yala Local Government Area of Cross River State, the council’s leadership has disbursed millions of naira as scholarship to them.

    Indigenes of the council in the University of Calabar (UNICAL) under the aegis of National Association of Yala Local Government Students (NAYLOGS) gathered at the security unit of the council last week to get their scholarship.

    CAMPUSLIFE learnt that the last time students got scholarship from the local government was 19 years ago when Greg Ngaji was the president of the association.

    The secretary of the council, Mr Boniface Okache, said: “For many years, the council has not been able to give the students bursary due to its financial challenge. But now, things have turned around for good; the present chairman has brought out blueprint and cardinal priority, which is education.”

    Okache said the council held meeting with all NAYLOGS members and came to a resolution that it would assist all Yala students in tertiary institution in Nigeria and abroad. “We engage the association so that we can get an accurate statistics of Yala students. It is on the basis of that we will know how much to pay and how much that will go round,” he said.

    NAYLOGS president, Patrick Wonah, said the restoration of the bursary scheme by the chairman of the council was commendable.

    One of the beneficiaries, Anthony Afufu, a graduating student of Pure and Applied Chemistry, appreciated the council for the gesture. “Though we expected handsome amount because for many years, we were not paid. However, we appreciate the local government for this gesture. I urge the council not to stop the scheme as it was done in the past. They should also increase the amount to a reasonable sum,” Anthony said.

  • Cleric gives scholarship to indigent students

    I Moved bypitiable condition of some members of the society, the General Overseer of Abundant Life Evangelical Mission (ALEM), Port Harcourt, Apostle Eugene Ogu has given scholarship to about 700 indigent students to enable them to pursue their desired disciplines in various higher institutions in the country.

    Most of the beneficiaries of the scholarship are not members of his church. Rather, they cut across orthodox and Pentecostal churches.

    Ogu, who made this known in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, said he decided to shun ostentatious lifestyle which some men of God indulge in, to enable him to render some helps to indigent people.

    Besides offering scholarships to needy students, Apostle Ogu, through his Arm of Hope World Outreach, a non-governmental organisation, has rendered assistance to thousands of orphans, the less-privileged people, widows and other needy persons across the country, not excluding victims of religious crises.

    The cleric said: “I have chosen to live for others and derive my own joy from the happiness of others.” He also condemned the wrangling that reared its ugly head in the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in the past few weeks, even as he said that the body should “to ensure that the family of Christ remains undivided to be able to speak with one voice against any issue of common interest. Such situation should not arise again.

    Ogu, who is also the immediate past Chairman of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Rivers State branch, also noted that despite the various Christian denominations, the body of Christ remains one and should not allow internal strife and bickering.

    Since Christians profess “one God, one baptism and one spirit, all Christians in the country should see the need to co-operate and see one another as brothers and sisters,” Ogu advised. He appealed that “the Catholic Church as the father of the big family, is supposed to be proud of the progress of his children (the Pentecostals) and rejoice for the steady growth of the branches of the Christian faith as all the appreciations still go to Him.”

    He further condemned the idea of going to press over minor issues that ought to be settled in-house, stressing that threatening to pull out of the umbrella body should not have been contemplated as such could create a false notion of disunity and disaffection in CAN and expose the entire Christians to danger in the face of unprovoked attacks against them as witnessed in other parts of the country in the past.

    “The focus,” Ogu noted, “should be righteousness and holy living and using our positions to advance the good news of salvation through good works, evangelism, church projects, helping the less-privileged and sacrificial giving.

    “In heaven, it’s all this that will speak and testify for us and not which denomination, since there is no particular church in heaven.”

  • TV College awards scholarship

    The NTV TV College Jos has awarded scholarship to three of its diploma students who topped their classes in the 2011/2012 academic session.

    The recipients are: Awoseyin Anthony, with a Cumulative Grade Point Average of 4.39 (TV Production); Dogara Danbaba, 4.27 (Journalism); and Comfort Ayohk, 4.43 (Engineering).

    Presenting the award letters to the students, Rector of the college, Mr Aleichenu Odumu, described the gesture as the “dividend of hard work, dedication and drive for academic excellence.”

    “With these scholarships, the recipients will not pay tuition fee for the 2012/2013 academic session. It has been the tradition of this institution to recognise and award students who distinguished themselves through hard work and dedication to academic excellence. It will also encourage others to take their academic pursuit with all seriousness,” he said.

    The rector lamented the poor attitude of some students to their academics which accounted for the massive failure and withdrawals of students from the college in the 2011/2012 session.

    “Rather than paying more attention to academic work, students dedicate more of their time to clubbing, partying and other social activities at the expense of their academic work. I am glad that some of the students have remained focused on their primary goal and today they are being honoured,” he said.

    He called on other students to emulate their hard work and pursue academic success with all diligence, so as to earn good grades and meet the demands of the competitive labour market after graduation.

    Responding on behalf of the recipients, Anthony thanked the rector and his management team for the kind gesture and promised they would always do their best to make the college proud.

    He urged other students to study hard and live up to expectations, stressing that hard work pays.

     

  • Four students get Rotary’s scholarship

    Four students get Rotary’s scholarship

    Tears of joy flowed from parents of four indigent post-primary school students when the names of their children were announced as winners of the maiden scholarship awards of the Rotary Club of Enugu Education Endowment Fund. To them, it was a great relief as Rotary has taken over their financial burden in training the students.

    The scholarship worth N60, 000 a session for each student runs for three years. A total of N720, 000 will be spent on the students from SSI to SS3.

    The students are Miss Nnadi Anastasia Ngozi and Miss Ezemuoka Francisca Chinaza both from Queens School, Enugu.

    Others are Chibuzo Solomon Chukwuma from Uwani Secondary School Enugu, and Ede Peter Chiemerie of Union Secondary School Enugu.

    Reeling off the names at a colourful ceremony at Modotel, Enugu, the chairman of the local organising committee for the event, Mr. Vin Odo explained that the N45, 000 disbursed to each of the students on the occasion was only for first and second terms, adding that the fee for their third term would be released when they present their second term results.

    Odo, who urged the students to remain committed to their studies, reassured them of the preparedness of the Rotary Club of Enugu to release their school fees promptly.

    The President of Rotary Club of Enugu, Mr. Uchenna Nnamani, represented by Prof. Iheanyi Okpala said that with their burning desire to touch the lives of the needy in society, they went out and identified some indigent but brilliant young people who wanted education but were incapable to continue with their dream due to financial difficulty.

    Okpala, of the College of Medicine University of Nigeria Nsukka noted that since Rotary International stood for truth and justice, its 4 – Way Test philosophy was fully applied in the selection process of the four recipients of the scholarship to ensure fairness.

    He said: “Before they were selected, members of our screening committee went the extra mile to ensure that the parents of the award winners were not capable of paying the school fees of their children. The father of one of the students was shot dead by armed robbers when she was just one year old.”

    He also disclosed plans by the Rotary Club to renovate the Oji River Leprosy Centre as well as pursue its sickle cell eradication campaign in rural communities.

    In his  remarks, the founder of Enugu Rotary Club Education Endowment Fund, and past Governor of Rotary International District 9140, Dr. Ben Aghazu, expressed hope that his N25m target for the fund would be exceeded in years to come, stressing that with over N13m already raised, the future would be brighter.

    Describing himself as a miracle man, established by God in his own wisdom, he revealed that if not for scholarship that came his way from an unknown foreigner, he would have dropped from class three in secondary school, as his parents were poor.

    He continued: “Apart from secondary school, I also attended the best engineering school abroad on scholarship and because of this story; I decided to pay back to the society in appreciation for what the Lord has done for me. In fact, during my 1994 – 1995 year as Rotary District Governor, I founded the District Education Fund which has now given scholarships to over 360 students in tertiary institutions in the country. I urge the recipients of the award to be of good character.”

    Aghazu announced that Rotary International had appointed him to serve on its board for Conflict Resolution and Scholarship globally, pointing out that as the only African in the board, he would work to ensure that students from Enugu State benefit from the scholarship scheme.

    Earlier, the chairman of the Enugu Rotary Club Education Endowment Fund board of Trustees, Prof. Jonathan Azubuike stated that the scholarship scheme was the brainchild of former Governor of Rotary International District 9140 Dr. Ben Aghazu, in 2009 – 2010 Rotary Year, after he had received the Gold Merit Award which is the club’s highest honours.

    He recalled that in appreciation of the honour bestowed on him by the club, Dr. Ben Aghazu invited his friends who made donations to ensure that his noble idea to do something unique for Enugu metropolis was achieved. He added that the establishment of the scholarship fund was to further demonstrate his love for mankind. He called on the wealthy individuals in the society to emulate him.

    Responding on the scholarship award, the students and their parents thanked Rotary for intervening at a period they had lost hope of continuing with their education due to financial difficulty. They prayed God to bless the members.

    Responding on behalf of the students, Ede Peter Chiemerie of Union Secondary School Enugu said they never knew that kind-hearted people still exist in the society, stressing that the scholarship came at a time they had lost hope of continuing with their education due to financial handicap.

    Peter Ede said without the scholarship, he had already decided to withdraw from school, as his mother could no longer find anyone to borrow from; as his father died in an armed robbery attack when he was still a year old.

    While re-emphasising the need for a complete free education up to secondary school level, Ede thanked Rotary International for its love for young people and prayed God to bless members of the Club, especially the initiator of the scholarship fund, Dr. Aghazu, the Kpakpandu Nnewi. He promised that they would study hard to justify the investment on them.

    The Enugu State Commissioner for Human Capital Development and Poverty Alleviation, Mr. Godwin Ogenyi; past governor of Rotary International District 9140, Lady Ogugua Nwankwu, past club presidents Prof. Arthur Ikeme and Dave Osuagwu, were among the dignitaries who attended the event.

  • Lawmaker’s scholarship lifts 75 pupils

    Lawmaker’s scholarship lifts 75 pupils

    The lawmaker representing Lagos East in the Senate, Gbenga Ashafa, has charged parents to support their children’s education to the tertiary level. Ashafa made the charge in Epe last weekend during the presentation of scholarships to 75 indigent pupils in Ikosi-Ejirin Local Council Development Area (LCDA).

    The pupils, drawn from various public schools, were selected by the Gbenga Ashafa Educational Enhancement Programme.

    Congratulating the beneficiaries, the lawmaker told the pupils to make judicious use of the grants.

    He urged the parents to see education as a potent tool for development and always support their wards’ quest for it. He added that the programme is aimed and sustaining pupils’ interest in education.

    He said: “Today’s occasion serves as a pilot project for the indigent students in public schools throughout the Lagos East senatorial district. Support for education has always been an integral part of our programmes.

    “Under this scheme, a lot of success has been recorded. In the last three months, over 10,000 copies of writing materials, mathematical sets and rain coats were distributed throughout schools in my senatorial district. This is not to mention the different categories of scholarships and various financial assistances, all to keep the interest of our children in education.”

    The chairman of the Gbenga Ashafa Educational Enhancement Programme in the local government, Oba Ganiu Aderibigbe, Alayandelu of Odo Ayandelu, thanked the lawmaker for the gesture.

    “We thank our amiable Senator Ashafa for this initiative. Without this scholarship, the implication would have been to have these children out of schools without completing their studies, which has the potential to constitute nuisance in our community,” he said.

    The beneficiaries, who were indigenes and non-indigenes of Lagos State, were selected across communities in the LCDA. One of them, Abraham Mercy, a Primary 5 pupil of Anglican Primary School, Ajebo, said she almost stopped schooling when her parents could not afford to pay. She appreciated the senator’s gesture, saying: “Thank you sir, Senator Ashafa, for this scholarship; I will go back to complete primary school.”

    At the programme were the LCDA chairman, Hon. Segun Adetoba, leader of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Epe division, Chief Lanre Rasaq, Commissioner II in Lagos State Civil Service, Mr Wasiu Odeyemi, traditional rulers from Ikorodu, Epe, Agbowa and Ikosi-Ejirin among others.