On Tuesday, six students benefited from the 2023 Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) Indigent Students’ Scholarship Award, presented by the University of Ibadan (UI) branch of the union.

The awards, divided into national and branch categories, were presented at the institution.

The national award of N200,000 each was presented to two students by the Ibadan zonal coordinator of the union, Oyebamiji Oyegoke. The branch award of N100,000 each was, however, presented to four other students by different union members.

Mr Oyegoke, also of ASUU, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso branch, commended the UI branch for its contributions and faithful union representation.

According to him, another attestation to the good work done by the UI branch is the presentation of the ASUU indigent students’ scholarship awards.

“If you look at the branches that are in the Ibadan zone, UI is giving the highest,” he said.

ASUU chairman of the UI branch, Ayo Akinwole, said the presentation of the awards started in 2018 and has continued till date, except for 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Reiterating the union’s commitment to sound and quality tertiary education, Akinwole said selecting beneficiaries was stringent, as indigency and brilliance were considered.

“We want to continue to contribute our quota to sound minds and quality education despite the fact that the government is still owing us seven months and 13 days’ salaries. Yes, it is tough for us as a union, but we are still doing this out of our meagre resources,” Mr Akinwole said.

The beneficiaries of the national award are Abdulkabir Ilori, a 200-level student of Medicine and Surgery, and Mariam Busari, a 200-level student of Microbiology, both from UI.

The branch beneficiaries are Olanrewaju Osiga, a 400-level Aquaculture and Fishery Management student and Hope Adesina, a 200-level student of Archaeology.

The other two branch awardees are Ruth Folorunsho, a 200-level student of Medicine and Surgery and Samuel Ekpo, a 200-level Electrical and Electronics Engineering student.

One of the beneficiaries, Ms Busari, appreciated the union on behalf of her colleagues.

She said the gesture would go a long way in encouraging students from poor backgrounds to have access to education. 

(NAN)