Kano expenses n4.3bn in oversea sponsorship of students

A whopping N4. 3 billion has been spent by Kano state government in the past two years on its students on overseas scholarship, the state governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje has announced.

“This amount is enough to build a new university or to complete several projects in our Maitama Sule University”, the governor stated pointing out that overseas scholarship under the present economic condition in the country, is very expensive.

He made this known during the presentation of scholarship awards to nine indigenes of the state, to study for degree programme at Al-Azhar University Cairo and 10 Imams for a two-month capacity building programme by the Egyptian government.

To underscore the fact that maintaining the foreign scholarship is costly, the governor asserted that what the government was spending on each of the students on the foreign scholarship could be used to finance the education of at least 30 students attending tertiary institutions locally.

Governor Ganduje explained that despite this effort to sustain the foreign scholarship scheme, some of the students are taking the scheme for granted, lamenting that while some stay away from lectures, others engage in lawlessness.

“For instance some of our students in one country do not attend lectures. Their scores were very low. It was recommended by their university that we should pay for their studies for an additional year. However, there was doubt that they will be able to pass at the end of the additional year. So we decided to return them back home after consultation with their parents”, he stated.

Similarly, he revealed that some of the students in the same institution went to the extent of assaulting their lecture, stressing that the government would not tolerate indiscipline, breach of the law and waste of public funds on those who would not appreciate the privilege of being sponsored to study aboard.

“However, some people are politicizing the whole issue. We learnt that some crooks visited them and told them not to return. Well, they can go ahead and sponsor them or their parents can pay for their studies if they so wish”, Governor Ganduje remarked.

The governor then thanked the Egyptian government for sponsoring students and Imams on capacity building, stressing that the move would go a long way in strengthen bilateral relations between Nigeria and Egypt.

In his speech, the Cultural Attaché, Egyptian Embassy in Nigeria, Dr. Ibrahim Ibrahim explained that the total scholarship awarded to nine Kano students was part of the contribution of his country to improve the education sector of Nigerian, adding that the number of beneficiaries would be increased gradually.

He stated that the capacity building programme for Imams and Islamic scholars was meant to expand their intellectual horizon so that they can impart Islamic knowledge more efficiently in the society.