No fewer than 603 students drawn from primary, secondary and tertiary institutions across Ogun state on Friday, benefited from the scholarship award instituted by the governor of Ogun State, Prince Dapo Abiodun to immortalise his late son, Gbemiga who died at Iperu in the Ikenne Local Government Area of the state on the 7th of October, 2023.
The “Gbemiga Abiodun Education Programme”, which witnessed a presentation of cash awards to the 603 beneficiaries, was launched by Governor Abiodun and his wife is said to have been principally instituted as part of the governor’s strategies to enable indigent students in Remoland to continually have access to quality education.
Speaking at the launch, Abiodun described the program as a demonstration of how best to remember, honour and celebrate loved ones.
Represented by the state Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Prof. Abayomi Arigbabu, the governor presented 224 beneficiaries from the primary school with a cash reward of N50,000 each, a school bag with four exercise books; 279 beneficiaries from secondary schools received N100,000 each, a school bag with six exercise books, while 100 beneficiaries from tertiary institutions got cash reward of N250,000 each and eight exercise books.
Abiodun also disclosed that 113 beneficiaries were drawn from the local government list, with 44 and 69 beneficiaries from the primary and secondary school category, respectively.
He added that in the primary school category, Ikenne, Remo North and Sagamu Local Government had 56, 45, and 79 beneficiaries, respectively.
The governor further said that in the secondary category 70, 48 and 92, beneficiaries were picked from Ikenne, Remo North, and Sagamu Local Government.
“Most of these scholarships are actually based on merits. Because we have a digitalized system in Ogun State through which we can track most of the things we do in the education sector, we were able to go into the digital platform of Education Revitalisation in Ogun State to get the best students in each of the local governments.
“If you find out that some schools have more recepients than others, it is not because they are favoured, it is because more students have done well in these schools and you know it is based on the performance of the unified examination.
“It is a total of eight multiplied by N250,000, that is N2 million will go to the institution. However, it is meant to ensure that your school fees are paid out of that money. We don’t know how much the school fees are; it varies. Some of you have paid already, while some are yet to pay.
“What we want to ensure is that when the money gets to the institution, they remove the school fees and then give you the balance. We want to ensure that the scholarship is used for the purpose it is designed for,” he added.
Adegboye Oluwademilade Samuel from Ogunlesi Model College and Adenuga Feranmi from Daniel Comprehensive High School, Sagamu both thanked the governor and his family for looking out for their success through the launching of the Gbemiga Abiodun Education Program, promising to continue to work harder academically.
The Head Teacher of African Church School, Sagamu, Mrs. Hannah Olaide Oredeko, who appreciated the governor and his family for the program, urged the beneficiaries to make good use of the grants.
Also, the principal of Christ Apostolic Grammar School (Junior), Iperu, Mr Nofiu Momoh, who described the governor as a man with a human heart, charged the students to continue to work hard.
A friend of Gbemiga Abiodun, Feyisayo Oyefesobi, described Gbemiga as a good friend.
“It is good to be able to give back and keep his name shinning. The beneficiaries should work hard, focused be hardworking and maintain a good relationship with God,” he added.
