Badagry (Lagos State) – On Wednesday, Mr. Olusegun Onilude, the chairman of the Badagry Local Government Council, gave bursary awards to 200 indigenous students attending various tertiary institutions in the area.
At the council secretariat in Ajara, Badagry, Onilude gave the bursary awards to the recipients and stated that the purpose of the gift was to realign education in the council region.
According to him, the scheme is another example of how his administration is dedicated to assisting those who want to pursue tertiary education.
“This programme was initiated as part of our commitment to supporting the aspirations of prospective tertiary education seekers.
“None of these young people are children of the elite and some of them are very brilliant.
“We chose to empower them to liberate their minds and make them better citizens who will resist the urge to engage in social vices.
“I have said it and I am still reiterating it that we won’t stop supporting our students to be great in life,” he said.
Some students received ₦20,000 each, while those studying engineering, law, and medicine received N50,000 each.
In subsequent editions, the chairman pledged to raise both the number and the amount of beneficiaries.
The beneficiaries, according to Mrs. Sewede Pot-Balogun, the local government council’s supervisor of education, were individuals who fulfilled the standards set forth by the bursary committee that the council had established a few weeks prior.
Pot-Balogun said that most of the beneficiaries of the bursary awards were from poor background. She stated that the chairman made the decision to relieve the parents of the beneficiaries of their financial burden.
She asserts that education will reduce crime in society and instill greater responsibility in young people.
According to Abdulsamod Ajape, President of the National Association of Badagry Students, the bursary will help defray the cost of their tuition.
He applauded the chairman for his assistance to the impoverished pupils and exhorted other charitable residents of the municipal district to follow in his footsteps.
One of the recipients, Miss Hunye Minasu, a Lagos State University (LASU) medical student, expressed gratitude to Onilude for the bursary grant and stated she would use it to pay off her school’s outstanding debt.