Indigenes of Lagos State who are beneficiaries of Lagos State government scholarships and bursaries have never had it so good.
The beneficiaries for the scholarship scheme and bursary awards who had shown tenacity, dedication and determination currently get their entitlements as and when due compared to the past when students used to beg the state government to pay their outstanding scholarship and bursary.
Far removed from the era of clandestine operations that hitherto characterized the Board, transparency and accountability driven by proper documentation and rich actionable data of beneficiaries has become the modus operandi of the board.
The novel achievements in the Board is not a fluke. It can be traced to the new Executive Secretary of the Lagos State Scholarship Board Mr. Abdul Rahaman Lekki, whose consistency in anything he does produces remarkable results.
In the last one year of his appointment, the executive secretary and his team has ensured that the initiative established with the belief that every outstanding individual, regardless of background or socioeconomic status, deserved the opportunity to pursue their dreams through education is maintained.
Because they know that it is imperative to empower the next generation of trailblazers, problem solvers and visionaries in the state, the board has resolved to live above board in the discharge of its duties.
Speaking on the new rapprochement in the Board, the Executive Secretary, Abdul Rahaman Lekki said the Lagos State Scholarship Board was established in February 1968 to support the well-being of indigenous students in higher institutions within and outside the country through the provision of scholarships and bursaries.
Over the years, Lekki explained that the Board has been steadily performing this responsibility, saying in the last one year, about 20,000 students have benefited from scholarships and bursary awards, while Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has within the same time period approved a 100 percent bursary increment for tertiary institutions students.
Breaking down the allocation, Lekki reeled out the details that,’’ N164,500,000.00 has been earmarked for 792 2021/2022 Fresh Scholarship Award Undergraduate, Masters and PhD (Batch B), 2021/2022 Subsequent Scholarship Award for Undergraduate and PhD, and 2022/2023 subsequent scholarship award for undergraduate and PhD recipients as well as the 2022/2023 Governor’s Discretionary Awards.
‘’Furthermore, an allocation of N210,955,000.00 has been approved for 4,375 (Four thousand, three hundred and seventy-five) 2021/2022 Fresh Bursary Award for undergraduates and Law School (Batch B), 2021/2022 subsequent bursary award for undergraduates, and 2022/2023 subsequent bursary award for undergraduates.
‘’Earlier in the year, in March 2023, N171,100,000 was approved for 799 for the 2021/2022 fresh scholarship award for undergraduate, Masters and PhD (Batch A), as well as N303,000,000 (Three Hundred and Three Million Naira for 2,509 , 2021/2022 fresh Bursary Award for Undergraduates (Batch A).
‘’In all, a total of N678,455, 000.00 have so far been released this year 2023 for 8,475 Scholarship and Bursary beneficiaries.
Lekki said though it has been challenging since he took over the mantle of leadership of the Board, they have been fortunate to have a governor that prioritizes education.
He said, “In 2022, he approved a 100 percent increment in bursary to deserving students of Lagos State origin in all tertiary institutions across the country. This was aimed at supporting the students to cope with the present economic realities. ”
Harping on the process of granting scholarships/bursaries in the state, he said,” It is a very meticulous process. The application for the 2022/2023 scholarship and bursary award is ongoing. For bursaries, the students will have to apply and follow through two assessment processes.
“The first is to verify whether you are an indigene of Lagos State or not, while the second (studentship) is to verify and assess whether you are truly a student of a tertiary institution or not. Once this is confirmed, the bursary can be accessed. We also have some special bursaries for about two institutions, one for Law students, the Law School, and also for the School of Maritime Studies.”
Dwelling on the process of securing a scholarship through the Lagos State Scholarship Board, Lekki said,” For scholarships, the process goes a step further than the earlier two mentioned. It is meant for indigenous students with cumulative average grade points of second class upper or first class. So, we need to verify your academic standing. That is the third verification for the scholarship and the fourth step is writing an assessment test. So, all of these steps are the qualifications.”
To restore people’s confidence in operations of the board, he said they had to tackle the challenge of a backlog of scholarships and bursaries as well as applications that were yet to be attended to frontally.
“There was also a dearth of crucial data. We did not have enough data to make an informed decision on the scholarship screening process. It became a very big challenge.
“But we came up with an idea. We designed a Google form and sent it out to all students to furnish us with their essential details such as matric number, year of admission, NIN, BVN, and LASRRA among others. We later secured the service of an expert whose task was to help verify the information from the respective tertiary institutions. With this, we were able to make reasonable progress. The system was sanitized. It is a tough process, but it is worth the while.”
To raise the bar of scholarship awards in the state Lekki said the board came with new initiatives, especially as it relates to foreign scholarship that had been suspended in the state.
He said, ‘’In the twilight of Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola’s administration, foreign scholarship was suspended. So, we have been brainstorming on how to revive it through creative means. We decided to research foreign-funded admissions and discovered that there are thousands of foreign admissions across the globe. All you need to do is prepare your students’ proof for those funded admissions.
‘’There are processes to it. There is also expertise in those admissions. Once you master the process, you can begin to churn in students for admissions. We discovered through online research that there are a few non-governmental organizations that train Nigerian students pro Bono. In fact, they sponsor some of the process.
‘’We interacted with two of such bodies and one responded. That is a high scholar initiative. Additionally, we are in the process of expanding our scholarship base to include special Scholarships for people living with disabilities and the multi-dimensionally poor and vulnerable.
‘’In order to ensure that all our operations have the backing of the law, we are currently reviewing our Law in collaboration with the Law Reforms Commission for updates and to capture all our new initiatives so that all our operations will be within the ambits of the Law.’’
Lekki said his main objective is to make the Lagos Scholarship Board a reference point in the next two years.
He said, ‘’I see the board, in the next two years, as the reference point of tertiary education funding in Nigeria, especially for Lagos State. I see it as the saviour of university education or tertiary education in Lagos State.
‘’ I see the Scholarship Board, in the next few years, being able to work on both scholarships and student loans. As we speak we already have a student loan initiative, even before the Federal Government announced its own. We have almost concluded it. All we need to do is to get more creative. Ideas rule the world. It is only those with ideas that hold the key to the future. So, we will keep thinking creatively to be able to conceive ideas that can take the Board to the pinnacle of the sector in the country and sustain it for years to come.’’
A beneficiary of the Lagos State scholarship, Mumuney Maryam is particularly appreciative of the support from the government, saying the scholarship has inspired and stimulated academic excellence in her.
She said, ‘’I am a 400 level student of Public Administration at Lagos State University. I was opportune to receive a scholarship from the Lagos State Indigene Scholarship programme. The process of applying for the scholarship was challenging, and I wasn’t sure if I would be selected. I had to go through a lot of paperwork and spent a lot of time and money to complete the application process. I almost gave up, but I am glad I didn’t.
‘’The scholarship did not only cover my tuition fees, but it also provided me with financial support to cover my other expenses.’’
The Southwest Coordinator of National Association of Nigerian Students, (NANS), Comrade Kappo Samuel Olawale has also commended the Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu over the disbursement of bursary and scholarship awards to deserving students from the state.
He said the bursary and scholarship awards would help ameliorate the financial condition of the students.
