Kogi State Governor, Ahmed Ododo, has approved the sum of N316 million for the disbursement of bursaries to 8,750 undergraduate students from the state who have been successfully verified.
The state’s Commissioner for Education, Mr Wemi Jones, disclosed this at a press conference on Friday in Lokoja.
Jones said, “Out of over 40,000 undergraduate students who applied online for the 2024 Bursary Award, only 8,750 have fully uploaded the required documents and have been verified.”
He further explained that, of the 8,750 students, 8,549 would receive N30,000 each, totalling N256 million, while the remaining 201, who are Law students, would receive N300,000 each, totalling N60.3 million.
The commissioner assured that the beneficiaries would start receiving alerts within the next two weeks.
He reaffirmed the commitment of the current administration under Governor Ododo’s leadership to prioritise education and reduce the number of out-of-school children to a minimum in the state.
The commissioner also presented a supplementary cheque of N5 million to Miss Favour Adebayo, a Kogi indigene currently on scholarship in Poland.
Jones said the governor had graciously approved the disbursement of N5 million to the awardee for making the state proud by winning the European Union Erasmus+ Scholarship to study in Poland.
While presenting the N5 million cheque to the father of the awardee, Mr Moses Adebayo, on behalf of the governor, Jones stated that the N5 million would complement the scholarship awarded to her by the European Union.
In his remarks, the Executive Chairman of the Kogi State Scholarship Board, Mr Afolabi Joseph-Raji, commended the governor for his commitment to educational development in the state through various scholarship awards.
Joseph-Raji noted that Miss Favour had won a scholarship as the best overall student during her 300 Level studies at Nasarawa State University through an exchange programme with Poland.
He said the presented funds would complement her tuition, accommodation, and other scholarship needs.
Joseph-Raji reiterated the state government’s commitment, through the Board, to ensure that every Kogi student attains academic success and becomes responsible.
In his response, Favour’s father, Mr Moses Adebayo, expressed his gratitude to the governor for his support towards his daughter, assuring that she would continue to make the state proud