The executive governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has declared a raise in the bursary amount for state indigenes attending higher education institutions.
The bursary was increased from N50,000 to N60,000, while the scholarship amount increased from N200,000 to N250,000.
This announcement was made during a one-day meeting with leaders of student unions and key stakeholders.
The event, titled “Students as Strategic Partners in the Governance Process: Challenges and Prospect for Youth Development,” was held at the Adeyemi Bero Auditorium in Alausa, Ikeja.
Sanwo-Olu urged the students to represent their institutions well and aim to become exemplary citizens.
Sanwo-Olu expressed his commitment to making the students happy by announcing an increase in the Lagos State indigenes bursary while emphasizing the importance of dialogue between the student union and stakeholders for exchanging ideas and working towards a better Nigeria.
“As your daddy, I must ensure that you go home happy today; going forward, our Lagos State indigenes bursary has been increased to N60,000.
“This interface between the student union and stakeholders is necessary; there’s a need to share ideas and focus on building a better Nigeria.
“You all are the future, the future is yours to take, we’re only doing what we can to build the institution that can help shape you.
“We’ll do all we can to provide a conducive environment for learning by building new additional student accommodation, we will build student arcades in other new institutions and tech hubs as we have in Lagos State University (LASU),” Sanwo-Olu said.
He said that the state would provide scholarships for physically challenged students of state-owned institutions.
“Both indigenes and non-indigenes will benefit from this scholarship; also, we have reviewed our scholarship to N250,000.
“We want to relieve parents in the face of the hard economic situation; with our collaborative effort, we will come out stronger,” the governor said.
In his opening remarks, the Commissioner for Tertiary Education, Mr Tolani Sule, mentioned that despite the current socio-economic challenges, it was good that the Lagos State government has maintained a standard of excellence in higher education.
He also mentioned that engaging stakeholders is therefore crucial due to the significant role youths play in the development agenda.
He further praised the Governor for approving the program promptly, acknowledging youths as essential for a brighter future for the country.
