Ex-Ondo HoS urges OSOPADEC to give Ph.d students scholarship

Former Ondo State Head of Service (HoS) and first Executive Secretary of the defunct Oil Minerals Producing Areas Development Commission(OMPADEC), Ajose Kudehinbu, has urged board of Ondo State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (OSOPADEC) to give full scholarships to Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) students in the oil producing Ilaje/Ese-Odo local governments area for encouragement.

Kudehinbu made the appeal in Oba-Ile, Akure, the Ondo State capital, during the flag-off of 2014/2015 bursary and scholarship award for students in the two coastal local government areas of the state in tertiary institutions across the country. The legal practitioner lamented the alleged past insensitivity of the commission to the people of the areas.

He, however, appreciated the doggedness of the incumbent Chairman of the commission, Gbenga Edema, describing him as a 'combatant in government'. At the event, the commission released a sum of N230m arrears of Bursary/Scholarship for 2014/2015 academic session for students in the oil producing area.

Beneficiaries of the award were 33 Ph.D students,104 Masters,19 Law School students,18 Post Graduate  Diploma in Education(PGDE) and 5,017

Undergraduates, totalling 5,237 students in the mandate areas.

The OSOPADEC's chairman, Gbenga Edema, enthused that this is the first time bursary and scholarship would be awarded to students by the commission without violence from any quarters. He said the award was to celebrate students in the oil producing areas in various higher institutions across the country.

"This is the arrears for 2014/2015 academic session which the previous administration owed, and the present administration led by

Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu decided to pay so as to encourage the students. The commission would as from now, increase

the scholarship award, especially for the benefits of those who bagged first class in their final examinations.

Presenting the cheques to the beneficiaries,the wife of the state governor, Mrs. Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, said every responsible government should give priority to education. According to her, education is a right of every child, and the government should not hesitate to encourage those willing and ready to seek knowledge.

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Source: Ex-Ondo HoS urges OSOPADEC to give Ph.d students scholarship