Ebonyi govt releases over 13 Billion for national, foreign scholarships

By Uchenna Okeh, Abakaliki

The Chairman Ebonyi state scholarship board, Chief Chaka Nweze has said that the state government has released over 3 billion naira to sponsor 263 students on foreign scholarships.

Nweze disclosed this to journalists shortly after briefing the beneficiaries of the foreign scholarship at the Exco chambers, Old government house ,Abakaliki, capital of Ebonyi state.

He noted that the governor, Francis Nwifuru released the 3 billion naira to the board for the sponsorship of students on masters degree.

The Chairman, Nweze, however commended the state governor for providing all necessary support to the beneficiaries of foreign scholarship, adding that the scholarship board does not have challenges as regard to the scholarship.

“We don’t have any challenges regarding the foreign scholarship because the board has already been funded by the state governor and even when we are doing national scholarship, the board was equally funded.

“The beneficiaries of foreign scholarships have been profiled and we have equally paid their tuition fees and any moment from now, their living expenses will be given to them.

“From Masters degree to doctorate degree at the end of the day, the state government will spend close to 3 billion naira.

“For the national scholarship for this year alone government will spend 15 billion and meanwhile, governor has released 10 billion for the foreign scholarship for us and it may need to release another 500 hundred million for their logistics because we have to provide them with flight tickets and visa for each student is appropriately 490 people and some of them who don’t have passport, we need to open passport for them .

“Ebonyi State government has started engaging foreign universities and even before now, I have traveled to the United Kingdom alongside with the commissioner for tertiary institutions to engage universities we are using for now and we are in touch with them and right now they have given us modius opparadi to follow.

“We have a total of 263 foreign scholarship candidates to depart to the United Kingdom by the end of this month and the first batch is 212 candidates.” He stated.