IN Nigeria, education has become one of the sectors that are becoming increasingly difficult to access due to the subsisting economic recession. However, for the undergraduates’ indigenes of Delta North Senatorial District, Delta State, the Deputy Governor of the State, Sir Monday Onyeme, is some form of a messiah that has breathed life to their quest to acquire formal education with considerable ease.
Recently, a total of 534 undergraduates of different institutions of higher learning in the country benefited from the Sir Monday Onyeme Foundation to the tune of N100m after they emerged successful in the 2024 edition of the offer by the foundation.
This is huge investment in the sector by one individual this period that many Nigerian families are finding it difficult to send their children to school, while many elites are paying lip service to the sponsorship of scholarships for indigent populace.
The step by the Monday Onyeme Foundation did not begin this year. What happened in Asaba, recently, when the beneficiaries went home with at least N200,000, was a further demonstration of the extent to which Sir Onyeme has gone to assist undergraduates in his senatorial constituency of Delta North. In fact, each of the successful students got the sum of N200,000, while the overall best received the sum of N600,000. First runner-up and second runner-up got N500, 000 and N400,000, respectively. Before now, the people of Ndokwa nation have benefited from the scholarship. From his Ward 5 in Ndokwa West Local Government Area in 2016, Sir Onyeme extended the benefits to the three other local government areas – Ndokwa West, Ndokwa East and Ukwuani – in 2019 and subsequently embraced all the nine local government areas of Delta North in 2024, where 534 beneficiaries emerged after a qualifying examination supervised by the sponsor at different venues of the contest. It is interesting that the sponsor has sustained the scheme all these years, from his local community (ward) to the entire Delta North with the beneficiaries increasing on yearly basis. This will definitely impact positively on the number of graduates produced in the state annually.
There is no doubt that in achieving this latest feat, Sir Onyeme Foundation reached out to some other well-meaning Nigerians of Ndokwa extraction for support. The outcome of the move is part of what was celebrated recently in Asaba.
As one of the educational advantaged states in the country, the Sir Monday Onyeme Foundation is contributing immensely to education development in Delta by empowering poor students to go to school and achieve what would have been impossible to get, going by their economic circumstances.
No doubt, the money won by the students will go a long way in assisting them to achieve the purpose of being in school. In other words, it is our candid advice that they should utilize the money effectively in their education pursuit.
Considering the hardships being experienced by many Nigerians, the scholarship will be a great relief to parents who have either borrowed regularly or are in land cultivation (farming) to ensure that their wards acquire university education. The scholarship will no doubt, spur the students to embrace their studies and ensure that they justify the award as all eyes are now on them to prove their prowess in academic pursuit. Other benefits of the scholarship include competition to excel among students of Delta North origin, stability in education pursuit as cases of school drop outs will reduce, and encouraging upcoming students to embrace education.
We recognize that Sir Onyeme is not the only rich person in Delta North. Therefore, the move is a call on others to emulate his steps and sponsor scholarships for the empowerment of youths and capacity building in the district.
While we commend the deputy governor, Sir Onyeme for mobilizing such a huge sum to benefit indigent students of Delta North, we also appreciate all those who may have contributed financially and morally to boost the scheme and enable the beneficiaries to smile home with the various sums.
Besides, the offer by the foundation should also serve as a call to politicians and businessmen in the state to provide such succour to their supporters, families and indigent people in their communities and beyond.
With the foundation in place, undergraduates of Delta North origin are hopeful that the future is assuring. Let the well-to-do individuals step in.
