By ‘Segun ‘Bambo Ojomo
In his spirited drive to ensure amelioration of the hardships indigent students face in attaining formal educational qualifications at the tertiary levels, the Kwara State Governor, Dr. Abdulfatah Ahmed has established an indigent students’ support fund.
The provision named Dr. Abdulfatah Ahmed Indigent Students’ Support Fund has made available a sum of N10million for annual disbursement to 20 students in the faculties of Physical and Life Sciences of the University of Ilorin, Nigeria, with immediate effect.
Ahmed made a formal announcement on the commencement of the scholarship award in his speech at the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the University of Ilorin held recently at the institution’s main campus.
This contribution by Ahmed, though personal and towards assisting resource-poor indigent students, is in line with his government’s commitment to ensuring affordable qualitative education for the indigenes and also an expression of his gratitude for the unique opportunity granted him as a two- term student of the great institution of learning. Governor Ahmed graduated with a B.Sc. in Chemistry in 1986 and a Masters’ degree in Business Administration in 1992 from the same institution.
Also in his futuristic mode and while reiterating the importance of encouraging self-employment drive in students, Ahmed advised the authorities of Unilorin to incorporate courses in entrepreneurial development in their curriculum in order to ensure that graduating students became economically self- dependent in the face of inadequacy of white-collar jobs, a policy he had entrenched in the Kwara State University.
The University of Ilorin has been a haven for admission seekers for years by its maintenance of an uninterrupted academic calendar and it is on record by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) that the institution was the most subscribed public institution by intending students in Nigeria during the 2015/2016 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
The institution’s 40th anniversary celebration was also graced by the President of Ghana, His Excellency, Mr. John Mahama, as he delivered the anniversary lecture titled ‘Africa’s Agenda 2063: Ending Poverty and Ensuring Prosperity in Africa’.
- Ojomo is a media communications specialist.
