The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has awarded scholarship grants of N5.8 million to 29 indigent students of the state-owned Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU) Ago-Iwoye.
Each student received ₦200,000.
While the OOU branch of the ASUU gave the scholarships to 27 of the students, the ASUU national body awarded its own to two students, bringing the number of the beneficiaries to 29, to lessen the burden of university education on them.
Presenting the grants to each of the beneficiaries at the ASUU-OOU Secretariat after its Branch Congress yesterday, the ASSU-OOU chairman, Dr. Olukayode Oyenuga, said the beneficiaries were chosen based on their financial needs and impressive academic records.
Oyenuga who was represented at the occasion by his Vice Chairman, Dr. Eniola Olooto, advised the students to utilize the grant wisely and consider saving part of the money for future semesters when they may need it more.
“ASUU National sponsored two students, while ASUU-OOU branch sponsored 27 students, making a total of 29 beneficiaries.
“We hope to sponsor more scholarships, but our capacity depends on available funds. This year, ASUU increased the scholarship amount by ₦100,000 due to economic factors.
“ASUU members are like local parents to students. Within our financial limits, we’ll continue assisting indigent students,” he said.
Two of the beneficiaries, Zulaikha Idris Omayoza, a final-year Pharmacy student and Oppoola Kingdom, a 500-level crop production student, thanked the ASUU for the financial palliative, saying it would go a long way to address their needs.
“The scholarship has changed my perception of ASUU. I learned about the opportunity through a lecturer and I am grateful I took advantage of it. This grant has inspired me to practice generosity when I’m able,” Oppoola Kingdom said
Speaking to reporters through Olooto, the ASUU – OOU chair appealed to the federal government to sustain the existence of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETfund) and not to sacrifice it for the National Education Loans Fund (NELfund) scheme of the present administration.
He said the TETfund is the reason people could still see a modicum of infrastructural development going on across public universities in the country, warning that there would be a return to the era of decadence in infrastructure in public universities if the TETfund is scrapped.
He said: “Tetfund is a product of ASUU’s struggles. About 90% of university structures are Tetfund sponsored. If we renamed our university ‘Tetfund University,’ we wouldn’t be wrong.
“These funds have enabled us to develop our universities. Without Tetfund, we are going back to the pre-Tetfund era, characterized by archaic structures.
“It is Tetfund that is not making the absence of government to be felt in universities.”
