Nigeria: University Awards Scholarships to 107 Students

Various categories of students, including foreigners, benefited from the scholarship.

The Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, has awarded scholarships to 107 students, including foreigners, the indigent ones, and those with special needs.

Auwalu Umar, Director Public Affairs Directorate of the university, said in a statement on Friday in Zaria that 49 postgraduate foreign students benefitted from the scheme.

Mr Umar added that others were 42 undergraduate foreign students, 10 Nigerian students, and six undergraduate indigent students.

He said the vice-chancellor, Kabiru Bala, a professor, while presenting the award letters to the beneficiaries, said the scheme was in line with the yearnings of the founding fathers of the university.

According to the statement, the vice-chancellor also made it clear that the doors of the university were opened to men and women of different races, and that was why the university extended the hand of help to the most vulnerable students.

Mr Bala, represented by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Academics, Raymond Bako, a professor, added that the scholarship was not coming in cash, rather, through any means to support students to excel.

“There is always ability in disability, the sky is the starting point for all students with special needs,” he said.

The vice-chancellor enjoined foreign students to be good ambassadors of the university in their respective countries after the completion of their studies.

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The statement also quoted the Director, Counseling and Human Development Centre, Sa’adatu Muhammad-Makarfi, as saying that the university decided that foreign students both undergraduate and postgraduate pay the same amount as indigenous students.

This, according to her, is with a view to reducing the burden on them due to the harsh economic situation of the country.

Ms Muhammad-Makarfi said for students with special needs, the university had paid complete tuition fees and accommodation for some, while for those who had already paid their tuition fees, the university had covered their accommodation.

Also speaking, the President of Students with Special Needs, Mustapha Yahaya, expressed gratitude to the university for looking into their plights.

Mr Yahaya said students with special needs in the university were more than 15 and appealed to the institution’s management to extend the scholarship to others.

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