Awadzi Centre For Empowerment and Education( ACEE) has distributed N60,000 scholarships to 100 students of Nasarawa State origin with the aim to support education.
Speaking while distributing cheques to beneficiaries on Thursday in Lafia, Founder of ACEE, Mr Sunday Bitrus who is the National President of Zumunta Association USA Incorporated, said the gesture was his way of giving back to his community.
He said the programme which targeted 100 beneficiaries, received over 2,000 applications from students across institutions of higher learning with emphasis on disciplines such as medicine, engineering and Information and Communication Technology ( ICT).
According to him, due to limited resources, only applicants who meet the criteria and were indigenes of Nasarawa State were selected.
Mr Bitrus, who has lived in the diaspora for over 25 years, acknowledged the support of the Zumunta Association in the USA, a Northern Nigerian affinity group and called on other Nigerians in the diaspora to support their communities.
Also speaking, the Chairman, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Hon Abike Dabiri, represented by the Head of Programmes at the Commission, Abiodu Akambi, commended the National President of Zumunta Association, USA, Sunday Bitrus, for the humanitarian gesture.
According to him, NIDCOM was established to harness the resources, skills, talents, and global exposure of over 20 million Nigerians in the diaspora for national development.
“One of the commission’s key messages is encouraging Nigerians in the diaspora to return home and invest in their communities to make Nigeria great.
“Bitrus’s initiative is a shining example of this message in action. By providing stipends to students in Nigeria, he is not only supporting their education but also contributing to the development of his community,” he said.
On her part, the Commissioner of Women Affairs and Humanitarian Services, Princess Margaret Elayo represented by the Permanent Secretary, Mr Emmanuel Yonah appreciated the donor for launching the scholarship programme to support students in the state.
Elayo said the state government was happy with the kind gesture, noting that the initiative was laudable especially that scholarships were typically regarded as government responsibility.
The Commissioner encouraged other individuals in the diaspora to contribute to state’s development even as she commended Governor Abdullahi Sule for creating an enabling environment that encourages diaspora natives to return home and invest in their communities.
She, therefore charged the beneficiaries to study hard, excel academically, and make their parents, the donor and the state proud.
Some of the beneficiaries, Lenient Amidu, Medical and Surgery student at the Federal University of Lafia (FuLafia) and Abdullahi Salihu , Environmental Engineering Student at Ahmadu Bello University ( ABU), Zaria, who spoke in an interview with The Voice, appreciated the donor and promised to work hard to achieve academic excellence.
