By Ighomuaye Lucky. O
Twenty-one students of the University of Benin have had cause to smile again, courtsey of the Agbonjague Leemon Ikpea Foundation.
The students who are mainly from the Internally Displaced Persons camp in Ohogua, Ovia North East Local Government Area of Edo State, were presented with the scholarship to enable them pursue their academy career.
Addressing Journalists at the Dean of Students Affairs office of the institution, the Executive Director of the foundation, Dr Difference Irabor, said the essence for the scholarship is to ensure that barriers to educational pursuit due to lack of funds is broken and people can go to the school unhindered.
He said the scholarship doesn’t have any political undertones rather it is opened to everyone.
“Today, we are here to disburse scholarships to 21 students of the University of Benin. UNIBEN has been benefiting from the scholarship since 2012-2013 like I said earlier. This has been one of our cluster points as far as the scholarship is concerned.
“And you can see that the number of the students are from the far away North. That is to show that the foundation is not political, it is not tribal and it is not religious.
“So, anybody can be on this scholarship provided you show the clue that you are really finding things difficult as a student in any of the institutions”, he said.
The Vice Chancellor of the institution, Prof. Lilian Salami, represented by the Dean of Students Affairs, Prof. Clement Ighodaro, while thanking the foundation, said in the last session, 10 students of the university benefited from the scholarship adding that, during that process, an appeal was made for an upscale of the number of students which was graciously approved by the foundation.
She urged the beneficiaries of the scholarship to use the money judiciously so that the its purpose will not be defeated.
Prof. Salami also appealed to the students to put more effort in their studies in order to make the donor and the institution proud.
“When you see an opportunity like that, somebody gives you money, If you were reading two hours a day, you read how many hours a day now? Four, five hours a day so that you continue to enjoy that benefit”, Salami said.
One of the beneficiaries, Omotese Ruth Ukpoko, a 200 level student of Entrepreneurship from the faculty of Management Science, thanked the foundation for putting smiles on the faces of the indigent students.
