Top-performing students in the recently concluded Senior School Certificate Examination in Ogun State have been rewarded with cash gifts and laptops by the Senator representing Ogun Central, Shuaibu Salisu.
The students, John Ogunlade of Ansar-deen Grammar School, Ishaga Orile, and Kaosarat Busari of Oluke Community High School, were presented with the awards on Wednesday at Salisu’s annual educational empowerment programme held at the June 12 Cultural Centre, Kuto, Abeokuta.
Another physically challenged secondary school student also received a laptop at the event.
The programme also featured a debate competition, with Oke-Ona Grammar School, Abeokuta, emerging as the winner and receiving N200,000.
Ebenezer Grammar School, which came second, received N150,000, while United Comprehensive High School, Wasimi, placed third and received N50,000.
Comprehensive High School, Ifo, and Lafenwa High School also received N50,000 each.
Salisu also distributed educational materials to over 1,000 students, including school bags, exercise books, laptops, JAMB past questions and mathematical sets.
He said the intervention was aimed at supporting the students’ academic pursuits and providing relief for their parents.
Speaking at the event, the senator said the initiative was part of his commitment to promoting Information and Communication Technology skills among students
He said his investment in educational infrastructure, including ICT centres and science laboratories, was driven by his belief that education remained a veritable means of empowering young people and transforming families.
Salisu added that several schools across Ogun Central had benefited from ICT facilities, science laboratories and other educational projects facilitated by him.
He urged the students to take advantage of the opportunities provided to them and become agents of positive change in their families and communities.
He said, “I am hoping that 20 or 30 years down the line, some of you will be able to tell the story of how these educational materials inspired you to become a senator and to become a light that will lift your family out of poverty.”
Salisu stressed that true empowerment went beyond the distribution of materials or construction of facilities, saying the ultimate objective was to produce beneficiaries capable of transforming their families and communities.
In his remarks, the Ogun State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Prof Abayomi Arigbabu, commended Salisu for supporting the students, describing the intervention as an investment in the future of the children.
Arigbabu urged the beneficiaries to make good use of the materials and remain focused on their studies to justify the investment in their education.
He said the intervention complemented the state government’s commitment to giving education the priority it deserved in national development.
