Governor of Sokoto State, Alhaji Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, has approved the release of N1 billion as bursaries for students sponsored by the state government within and outside Nigeria.
A statement by the Permanent Secretary of the Sokoto State Scholarship Board, Bello Isah on Saturday, said the bursary is made up of registration fees and upkeep allowances.
According to the statement, of the amount, N188.5 million is for the payment of registration fees to 5,643 students in Sokoto State University (SSU) and N312.9 million for 7,096 students in Usmanu Dan Fodiyo University (UDUS) for both fresh and returning students of the two institutions.
Others are $89,100 and £15,000 for the payment of tuition and upkeep allowances to regular students in various institutions in London, Canada and other countries across the world as well as $570,000 equivalent to (N342,000,138) for the payment of tuition and upkeep allowances for both new and old students studying various medical courses in the Republic of Sudan.
Isah added that the governor had approved the redeployment of the evacuated Ukraine students to another country, to continue with their studies.
He said officials of the Board would soon be on facility tour to Sudan, Egypt and Turkey in order to ascertain the best institutions as part of the preparation for the students redeployment.
The permanent secretary said governor Tambuwal approved the payment of some sponsored medical students in Sudan, Nursing at American University in Niger Republic and Computer Engineering at the International University in Cyprus.
He also disclosed that three state indigenes were sponsored with N42.1 million to study two year standard pilot course at the International Aviation College Ilorin, Kwara state.
The governor also directed immediate absorption of 17 graduates of French language from Abdou Mummuni University Niamey into the state civil service in order to enhance the teaching of the language in the state secondary schools, adding that that another 20 will be sponsored by the state government to the institution to study the French language.
Isah appreciated the efforts of the state governor in uplifting the standard of education in the state, describing the efforts as deliberate fulfillment of his declaration of emergency on education sector.
He then appealed to the teeming students both within and outside the country to justify the huge investment of the state government on them by redoubling their efforts in their studies and be ready to serve the state after their studies.
