A former lawmaker representing Niger East Senatorial District, Senator David Umaru, has said he would continue with the sponsorship of underprivileged children to acquire education as a way of eradicating poverty in the zone.
He stated this in Minna when he played host to 35 students who had benefitted from his scholarship programme in the past four years.
“The scholarship programme which has lifted and exposed beneficiaries towards improved knowledge and empowerment and this has continued for years after I left the Senate. I have continued to implement the scholarship programme whether in office or not,” he said.
Umaru said the second group of graduates consisting of 40 beneficiaries who studied at the Federal University of Technology Minna had written their final year exams.
He said the decision to initiate the programme in the first instance was based on the need to bridge the education gap in the Niger East Senatorial zone, adding that “it was also aimed at assisting poor brilliant children whose parents could not afford the cost of higher education.”
Speaking earlier, the spokesperson of the beneficiaries who studied English at IBB University Lapai, Miss Simeon Salome Shamua, said the visit was to show appreciation to Senator Umaru for the opportunity given to them to acquire university education.
“We never met Senator David Umaru in person before we were enlisted to benefit from the scholarship programme four years ago. However he has remained our father and mentor paying our tuition fees without delay in the past four year. We remained grateful for his zeal to sponsor us to obtain first degrees in different disciplines,” she said.
She said the beneficiaries most of whom were graduating from Ibrahim Babaginda University Lapai would strive to give back to society to reciprocate the ex-lawmaker’s kind gesture.
