Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum, has announced scholarships for female indigenes who scored 250 and above in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
Zulum made the announcement on Saturday at the inauguration ceremony of new executive members of the Association of Professional Women Engineers of Nigeria (APWEN) Maiduguri Chapter and scholarship programme for 12 female students by the wife of the governor at the Government House, Maiduguri.
APWEN is a platform that provides mentorship and advocacy for gender inclusion in engineering, promotes the advancement of women in engineering and inspires young girls to pursue careers in science and technology.
The governor assured that his administration would continue to support girl-child education and sponsor more women to study medical and technical education.
“In order to encourage girl-child education in the state, I want to announce that all female indigenes of the state that have scored 250 and above in JAMB would be sponsored by the Borno State government to either study Technical/Vocational Education or Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) courses,” Zulum announced.
The governor then directed the acting Chief of Staff, the State Scholarship Board, Ministry of Education and APWEN, Maiduguri chapter, to identify and screen those that met the criteria to benefit from the scholarship.
He commended his wife for the scholarship programme and congratulated the outgoing and incoming chairpersons for their commitment towards promoting the engineering profession.
In a paper titled, “The role of Mentorship in Encouraging Girls to Pursue Engineering Careers in Nigeria,” the governor’s wife, Dr Habiba Babagana Zulum, observed that mentorship is a tool for personal and professional development She noted that women in Nigeria make only 14 percent of STEM workforce, stressing that excluding more than 50 percent of the population in nation building is counter-productive.
“Mentorship is critical to shaping the minds and future of upcoming generations, identify inspiring role-modelling, breaking stereotypes, guidance and support, overcoming obstacles, building confidence and skills, critical thinking and creativity, networking and opportunities, access to resources and opportunities as aspects that encourage mentorship,” Dr Habiba stressed.
The outgoing chairperson of APWEN, Engr Kori Shettima, said the association has worked tirelessly to create a platform that fosters innovation, mentorship, advocacy and collaboration with the aim of paving the way for future generations of females.
“I am proud of the progress we have made, the lives we have touched and the young minds we have inspired. Our advocacy for girl-child education in STEM has been a beacon of hope, illuminating paths to a brighter future,” Kori stated.
Highpoint of the ceremony was the inauguration of the 4th APWEN chairperson, Engr Hajju Tijjani Gazali, and award of scholarship of N200,000 to six best female pupils of Wulari primary school, Maiduguri, and N300,000 to six best science students of Federal Government Girls College, Monguno.
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