Tinubu Minister awards scholarships to 450 indigent students
The Minister of Environment, Malam Balarabe Abbas-Lawal has presented scholarship awards to 450 indigent students from Kaduna State, under the ‘Malam Balarabe Abbas Lawal Needs-Based Scholarship Initiative.’
The scholarship initiative, which is aimed at supporting indigent students from Kaduna State who are studying in tertiary institutions across Nigeria, is a gesture by the minister to give back to his community.
Speaking virtually at the presentation ceremony held in Kaduna on Monday, the minister explained that the scholarship initiative was a demonstration of his commitment to supporting the education of disadvantaged students in Kaduna State.
“I am delighted to present these scholarship awards to 450 indigent students from Kaduna State. This initiative is a demonstration of my commitment to supporting the education of disadvantaged students in our state,” Lawal said.
The minister noted that the scholarship initiative was a needs-based programme, designed to support students who are facing financial difficulties in pursuing their education.
“We have carefully selected the beneficiaries of this scholarship initiative, based on their needs and academic performance. I am confident that this initiative will make a significant impact on the lives of these students and their families,” he said.
On his part, the Kaduna State Commissioner for Education, Prof. Muhammad Bello, commended the minister for his generosity in awarding scholarships to 450 indigent students from the state.
Speaking to journalists shortly after the presentation of the scholarships, Bello expressed his delight at being part of the event, describing it as a novel scheme that has not been seen in the history of the state.
“I am so happy to be part of this event where the Honourable Minister of Environment, Malam Balarabe Abbas Lawal, has graciously agreed to take the responsibility to pay school fees for 450 students studying in our various tertiary institutions across Nigeria,” Bello said.
The commissioner explained that the beneficiaries of the scholarship initiative were indigent students with special needs, who were carefully selected to benefit from the scheme.
According to him, the gesture by Malam Lawal is a challenge to other public officers and well-to-do individuals in the state to emulate his kind gesture and provide support to more students.
“This is a challenge to other public officers and well-to-do individuals in our state to emulate the kind gesture of the Honourable Minister of Environment so that more students can benefit from this kind of facility”, the Commissioner said.
Earlier in his address, the Chairman of the Committee responsible for selecting the beneficiaries, Halilu Hassan, explained that the committee had carefully screened over 4,000 applicants to select the 450 beneficiaries.
Hassan noted that the beneficiaries were selected based on their academic performance, financial need, and other criteria.
He also disclosed that payments had been made directly to the beneficiary institutions via Remita and bank transfers.
In addition to the scholarship initiative, he said, the Minister is also supporting over 1,000 students from state-owned public secondary schools who will be sitting for the 2025 UTME/JAMB exams.
Some of the beneficiaries of the scholarship initiative, who were present at the presentation ceremony, expressed their gratitude to the minister for his support.
“We are grateful to the Honourable Minister of Environment, Malam Balarabe Abbas Lawal, for this scholarship award,” said one of the beneficiaries, Shagaya Benjamin Maikori, a 300-level student of Physic Education of the Department of Science Education, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
Another beneficiary, Sim Catherine Emmanuel from Kaduna Polytechnic noted, “This award will go a long way in supporting our education and helping us to achieve our academic goals.”
