UNILAG Awards N41.5 Million to Deserving Students for Excellence

The University of Lagos on Friday awarded the sum of N41.5million to students of the institution that excelled in various fields during the 2012/2013 academic session.

The Vice-Chancellor, Rahamon Bello, said at the endowment awards ceremony in Lagos that the scheme was to encourage academic excellence.

He said that it was also to encourage outstanding sportsmen and women and provide the much needed financial assistance to the indigent and physically challenged students.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the fund is to be disbursed to a total of 982 students who qualified.

Bello said of the qualified students, 67 of them, with Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 4.5 and above, were recognised for academic excellence, with Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 4.5 and above.

The Vice-Chancellor said that the students would receive N50.000 each, while eight others, who are students with leadership qualities, would receive the sum of N25,000 each.

According to him, 61 others who are outstanding sportsmen and women, will also receive the sum of N25,000each.

He said that 173 others in the needy students category would collect the sum of N25,000 each.

Bello said that 64 students in the physically challenged category would also receive the sum of N25,000 each.

The Vice-Chancellor lauded the institution’s chairman of council for giving the go-ahead of the disbursement.

He said that future awards would be better and would also be held much earlier in the session in order to make the funds more readily applicable.

The Vice-Chancellor noted that the funding of the endowment awards was derived from the interest generated through the investment of the Unilag General Endowment Funds, most of them from friends, parents, the alumni, contractors and others.

Bello implored the beneficiaries to make judicious use of the funds and not to forget to give back to their alma-mata no matter how little.

The Chairman, Advancement Board of the university, Mac Obviagele, said that the Federal Government had, for various reasons over the years, been unable to provide adequate funding to the university.

He said that the inadequate fund had serious negative consequences in the provision, upgrading and maintenance of infrastructure such as buildings, laboratories, libraries, equipment and other educational facilities.

According to him, the facilities are required to cater for the needs of the ever increasing student population.

One of the beneficiaries, Busayo Adebulugbe, a physically challenged 300 level student of Geomatics, said that the award would inspire him to do more.

He said that he was looking forward to more of such awards, which he described as laudable experience.