SECOND PHASE OF SEN. ORJI ANNUAL SCHOLARSHIP SCHEME KICKS OFF DECEMBER

                 

Immediate past Governor of Abia State, Senator Theodore Ahamefule Orji has scheduled December, 2016 for the second phase of his annual scholarship scheme designed to produce 240 undergraduates from his constituency, Abia central senatorial district.

The programme kicked off last year with 60 lucky indigent undergraduates- 10 each from the six Local Government Areas that make up Abia central – Isialangwa north/south; Osisioma, Umuahia north/south and Ikwuano- as beneficiaries.

In a press statement on Thursday last week in Umuahia, the Abia State capital, signed by his Senior Media Adviser, Don Norman Obinna, the former governor said that the organizers of the scholarship scheme will still adopt the same method used last year to ensure balance adding that his aim is to secure the futures of intelligent students from poor background in our education sector that is underfunded.

“As the Governor of Abia State then, my administration placed a premium on education with the construction/renovation of 44 schools including a world class E-Library and that was reflective of the Abia State students because we maintained second position in West African Examination Counsel (WAEC), all through my tenure till this moment.

“The objective of this annual scholarship scheme is to leverage on the seed of excellence I planted while governor to ensure that the average student from my constituency attain that global acceptable high standard of education that will enable them compete effectively with their contemporaries in the globalized world,” Sen. Orji said.

Sen. Orji further said that since education is the pivot through which all developmental activities revolve he was left with no choice than to embark on securing the future of Abia State by preparing tomorrow’s leaders who will not only drive her developmental objectives but that of Nigeria as a whole.

The senator representing Abia central noted that he was compelled to embark on the scholarship programme because the education sector which is Nigeria’s most important sector remains underfunded.
He said from N492bn in 2015, the budget allotted to education dropped to N369bn in 2016 saying that it still fell short of UNESCO’s 26 per cent recommendation. This he said is a challenge to a sector that shoulders human capital development at this crucial time in our history.

 “It is imperative to prepare intellectuals who will proffer everlasting solution to Nigeria’s economic and political challenges and I want to ensure that my constituency in Abia State produced majority of those future intellectuals,” Sen. Orji added.