No fewer than 525 university undergraduates from Enugu West and Enugu North senatorial districts of Enugu State were at the weekend given scholarship and bursary awards to the tune of N22.35 million by the Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, during a ceremony held at St. Paul’s College in Oji River local government area of the state.
A breakdown of the awards showed that 25 students on scholarship received N500, 000.00 (five hundred thousand Naira) each, while 500 students received N30,000.00 (thirty thousand Naira) each as bursary award.
Speaking at the event tagged “Ikeoha Foundation Adult Literacy Day and 2013/2014 Scholarship and Bursary Award Ceremony” Ekweremadu urged the students to take advantage of the gesture to study hard to enable them become useful members of the society in future, as well as replicate same to the younger ones.
“We are sowing a seed in you, we believe that this seed must germinate and you will be able to give out to others. What we are doing today does not signify the fact that we are wealthy. It does not signify the fact that we are powerful. It’s only an opportunity to demonstrate that it is important that when you have a privilege, you should be able to give back to the society that contributed so much to your growth,” he said.
He expressed gratitude to the National Commission for Adult Literacy for forming a partnership with Ikeoha Foundation for the promotion of adult literacy in Enugu West senatorial district, noting that the foundation has established many adult literacy centres where thousands of adults are studying.
He said, “This is the only way we can transform our society, a society that will be literate, that will be informed; we are in 21st century, for you to cope in this society at this age and time, you must be literate.