The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has awarded a N2 million scholarship grant to 10 brilliant indigent students of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria.
Prof. Haruna-Mohammed Jibril, Branch Chairman of the union, made this known in an interaction with newsmen on Saturday in Zaria.
Jibril said the union, during its National Executive Council meeting at Gombe State University in February 2018, instituted a scholarship scheme for indigent students at all the branches of the union.
He added that under the scheme, the national union awarded N200,000 to two beneficiaries of the grant to assist the indigent student in their academic pursuits.
The chairman said the national union encouraged branches to emulate the gesture; accordingly, ABU Chapter offered additional scholarship to two students from 2018 to 2022.
“This year, when we came back from our meeting at Kaduna State University, we briefed the congress and the congress approved the upward review of the grant to N1.6m,’’ he said.
He added that the N1.6m for eight beneficiaries was in addition to the initial N400, 000 for two beneficiaries from the national body, bringing the total to N2m.
He further explained that the ASUU ABU Chapter disbursed the grant because the students had commenced registration for the new session, hence its decision for early release of the funds to beneficiaries.
According to him, the beneficiaries are bright students who have a minimum CGPA of 3.0 and they also have a history of financial challenges.
Jibril said besides the scholarship grants to indigent students, ASUU had also provided N50m worth of palliatives to the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) across northern Nigeria. (NAN)