CAN Awards GCE Scholarships to 50 Indigent Students in Ota
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Ota Central Local Government Chapter, has awarded GCE scholarships to 50 indigent but academically promising students in Ota, Ogun State. The initiative seeks to give students from financially disadvantaged families greater access to education while encouraging educational opportunities for young Nigerians.
Speaking at the GCE Scholarship Award Ceremony in Ota, the General Superintendent and Founder of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry, Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi, praised the initiative and called on individuals, organisations and religious institutions to contribute to Nigeria’s development. He described programmes that support young people as important steps towards creating a better society.
“The good thing is to begin to see positive things coming out from different sections of society to bless the young and to bless everyone,” he said. He encouraged Nigerians to focus less on complaints and more on finding ways to contribute to the country’s progress.
“I’m not complaining, but seeing what I can contribute to move my nation forward,” Kumuyi said, adding that small ideas and actions could still create meaningful changes in society. The Host and Chairman of CAN Ota Central, Reverend Michael Oluwasegun Akimoro, said the scholarship programme drew inspiration from the Christian principle of love and aimed to support young people regardless of their religious background. He described the initiative as a practical expression of love within the community.
Akimoro said the initiative reflects Christ’s love and was created to extend that love to everyone in the community. He noted that the organisers deliberately made the programme inclusive, welcoming Christians, Muslims and people of other faiths. He emphasised that the government should not be left alone to drive the development of Nigeria’s education sector, stressing that families, faith-based organisations, community leaders and political leaders all have significant roles to play.
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“Unfortunately, we have left this to government, and we are actually missing it,” he said. He maintained that efforts to improve education should start at the family level, while political leaders should recognise education as a major foundation for national development.
“A nation that lacks education has no future,” he said. The CAN chairman disclosed that the organisers intend to support the beneficiaries beyond the GCE examination. He said the plans could include assistance with JAMB and university education, depending on available funds.
“We have plans to even follow up these students to JAMB and even sponsor them in the university. We have a lot of plans,” he said.
Also speaking, Pastor Abayomi Banji, Vice-Chairman of the Planning Committee for the scholarship programme, said the initiative was created to help indigent students continue their education despite financial difficulties. He said the organisers wanted to ease the students’ financial burden, which led them to create an opportunity for the beneficiaries to sit for the GCE examination.
Banji explained that the organisers initially identified about 70 potential beneficiaries from seven areas within the Ota Central local government structure. However, financial limitations reduced the number of students who could benefit from the programme to 50. He said the organisers used a competitive examination to select the beneficiaries. Independent consultants conducted and assessed the examination to promote fairness and ensure that academic merit guided the selection process.
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“The brilliant ones, irrespective of their religion, whether Muslim, Christian or whatever faith, are the ones that will be selected,” Banji said. According to him, none of the candidates scored below 50 per cent in the screening exercise. The organisers selected students who achieved at least 51 per cent.
“From the test we conducted for them, we discovered that none of them scored less than 50 per cent. We did not even take 50 per cent. We picked 51 and above for them to qualify,” he said.
Banji said the students demonstrated significant academic potential during the screening exercise. He added that proper guidance and encouragement could help them achieve stronger results.
“These students, we discovered that under good guidance and monitoring, they can do better than this,” he said. He expressed concern about the declining interest in formal education among some young Nigerians. He linked the trend partly to economic hardship, unemployment and the perception that academic qualifications no longer guarantee financial success.
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“Most of them now see education as a scam, believing that they can make it in life without going through normal education,” he said. Despite the challenges, Banji maintained that education remains essential to both individual progress and national development.
“Education is a pipeline from which every other thing can develop,” he said, while urging governments at all levels to increase their investment in the sector. He also called on parents and guardians to take a more active role in their children’s academic development.
“Parents should monitor their students effectively, not just sending them to school and giving them money, but ensuring that they encourage them to study as well,” he said. One of the beneficiaries, Ali Rodiat, thanked CAN for the scholarship and said financial difficulties had made it difficult for her parents to adequately support her education.
“I really feel good because there are people who support me. My English is good, but my parents do not have the money to send me to school. So, I really appreciate it,” she said.
Source: The Nation News
Content Credit: Esther Adeyemi
Image Credit: Google.com
