By Dennis Otu, Christopher Odamah and Oreva Godwin
The Executive Secretary of the Delta State Bursary and Scholarship Board, Dr Godfrey Enita has said that there was no short cut to the Bursary scheme in the state, saying transparency is the key word.
In an exclusive interview with Delta Revealed, Dr Enita said that Deltans in tertiary institutions were having a better deal, thanks to the state Bursary scheme.
According to him, everything was being done to ensure transparency in the bursary scheme was maintained, revealing that because of the proximity of Delta State to neighbouring states, non Deltans had tried to take such advantage by applying and they had to be screened out in order for real students of the state origin to benefit.
He said that in order for students of Delta State origin are not shortchanged, over 40,000 students applied In 2024, but 32,000 were cleared.
In his words; “We have discovered that some of our brothers and sisters across the bridge applied for Delta State Bursary Awards. You know they have similar names. Sometimes, we discover applicants from States like Bayelsa, Edo, Anambra and that is why all applications are subjected to NIN verification, so the NIN verification tells us where these students came from. For instance in the 2024 bursary approved by His Excellency, over 40,000 students applied but we were able to screen them to about 32,000 students”.
Dr Enita added that; “You don’t just pay anybody who applied. The number is huge, for instance, if you go to Dennis Osadebay University, many students there are not from Delta State but once they see adverts for bursary and because they bear similar names, they apply. Also, some students just like testing the waters. They know that they are not qualified, yet they still apply. The requirements include the following: must be in 200levell and above; must have a cgpa of 2.2; must have a valid NIN.. That is why we cannot pay bursary to every body who applied. We must verify that they are Deltans, which is the most critical factor”.
“My colleague in Lagos had similar issues, sometimes in Lagos, close to 50,000 apply for the Lagos State Bursary but at the end of the day, they end up paying 10,000 or less because they must carry out a clear verification to know if these applicants are from Lagos State even though they are Yorubas bearing similar names. So it is not discriminatory, please. It is a process that has to be followed”, the former Agriculture Commissioner under ex-governor Okowa also said.
He added; “All the processes are digitized; even payment. That to a very large extent eliminates any kind of fraud because you can easily see where it is coming from and block it. Though, we have cases of multiple registrations but because of our processes, we were able to block them”.
Dr Enita, a former Lecturer in the Delta State University, Abraka, revealed that Delta State Government is paying bursary to all Deltans in Public and Private tertiary institutions across the country.
He disclosed that; “We have the scheme for Delta State students in Nigerian Law Schools. We have about seven Law Schools across the country. Presently, the State Government is giving each law school student #100,000. Then we also have a scheme for children of deceased civil servants from primary to tertiary institutions as long as we get their application which is normally through their Ministries where they were before they died. The applications come to us from the families. The ministries endorse and the state caters for maximum four of the deceased civil servants children from primary school to university”. The State also award scholarships to students with Disabilities .
“I will say that our Governor is a large hearted man. He is a father figure particularly to Youths because each time we approached him on issues relating to this nature, he responds swiftly. He is very passionate about students and, particularly emotional about the well-being of children of deceased civil servants and the physically challenged. He is a wonderful person. When it comes to issues of students and their welfare in terms of educational development, he has done marvelously well and I believe the students are also aware. We will continue to engage to see how we can improve on the support given to the students”, Dr Enita stated.
He added that; “I want Deltans to keep on supporting His Excellency, Rt Hon Sheriff Oborevwori in all his endeavours. He has a good disposition, he is kind hearted and he is willing to listen. So, rather than criticism that is aimed at pulling him down. I will say we should give him the support to build a better Delta State and to students, I want to urge them to take their studies seriously and also to be abreast with information because there are a lot of scholarship schemes and to our greatest dismay Delta State Students don’t apply. Our students are doing well, and should keep up the score card. I am encouraging them to make Delta State proud”.
(C) New Media Office
