By Yusuf Kumo
Kaduna State Scholarship and Loans Board, has supported 27 law students with N18.5 million for their Law School programme, out of the 90 candidates that applied.
In a statement by the Executive Secretary of the board, Malam Hassan Rilwan on Tuesday, the board said that the selection was done online in a rigorous and transparent manner.
According to him, “90 candidates applied. Forty-Four out of the 90 candidates scaled through the first stage of a rigorous and transparent application review. Thirty-two candidates were eventually shortlisted after the second stage of document review and confirmation of citizenship of Kaduna State, which is either by the state of origin or by residency.”
Malam Rilwan said that further verification was done at the Nigerian Law School, adding that “only 27 out of the 32 shortlisted candidates were recognized by the school as her legitimate students.”
“The tuition fees of the 27 students were immediately paid directly to the Nigerian Law School account and each student will be given a laptop and an upkeep allowance was given to them, to ensure they have a hitch-free session,’’ he added.
The statement said that the cheque for the upkeep allowance was presented last Monday, to the students in the presence of the Director-General of Nigerian Law School, Prof. Isa Hayatu Chiroma at the school’s Headquarters in Abuja.
The Executive Secretary explained that priority is given to quality outcomes targeting the needy in all scholarship awards.
Hassan explained that the Board will the Law School sponsorship and integrate law students into the sponsorship category with its robust foreign and local Postgraduate Scholarship program.
The Executive Secretary revealed that the board has also approved two students with disabilities for foreign scholarship under the Disability Based Scholarship category.
“Umar Mu’azu who has been diagnosed with congenital hearing loss would be sponsored to study MSc in Management of Information Systems while Aminu Musa who has been diagnosed with bilateral lower limb abnormalities secondary to Poliomyelitis would be studying BSc in Computer Science with a Major in Digital Systems Security,” he added.
In his remarks, Professor Chiroma stated that he was impressed with the meticulousness of the Kaduna State Scholarship and Loans Board in contrast with what other states are doing.
“With this Board, transparency and traceability were evident throughout. Kaduna State is not richer than other states; it’s the commitment of the Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai towards education that is evident. We expect nothing less from a man with his pedigree,” he added.
The Secretary of the Council of Legal Studies, Mrs. Elizabeth Max-Uba states that “what impressed me the most is the fact that the sponsorship is not available as a roll call, just because you are from Kaduna State.’’
She noted that when the authorities of Nigerian Law School send a list of indigenes to some state governments, “even those who do not need the assistance crowd the process and small amounts get to all.”
Mrs. Max-Uba however said that in the case of Kaduna State, candidates must demonstrate need by first applying and each one must justify his or her qualification by writing an essay.
