It was an excitement and praise galore as the Ogun State government flagged-off the payment of N10,000 cash award to 100,000 primary and secondary school indigent learners in the over 2, 000 public schools across the four divisions of the state.
Speaking while monitoring the disbursement of the money in some schools in Abeokuta, Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Prof. Abayomi Arigbabu, said the payment was in fulfilment of Governor Dapo Abiodun’s commitment to give succour to parents as a result of the present economic situation in the country.
Prof. Abayomi stated that the present administration’s initiative was another strategy, which any previous government had not adopted before, particularly in health and education sectors to reach the populace, saying, “In view of the economic realities in the country, the governor decided to provide succour to the people of the state using multiplicity approaches to achieve this’’.
He emphasised that government decided to pay through parents whose children were in public primary and secondary schools as the children do not have bank accounts due to their age.
Explaining the rationale in selecting the learners, the Commissioner maintained that the process was objective, adding that teachers, being the closest to the students, were assigned to indicate the indigent students.
“I can assure you that we have chosen indigent children. To confirm that for you, a parent came to me; she said that her child in this school was chosen, but she has another child in another school that was not chosen. That is telling you that indigence is relative.
‘’We are paying directly to the students to ensure that the money get to them. We started payment last week and we have paid over 10,000 students. Before the end of this week, we would have paid N20,000”, he said.
The Commissioner pointed out that 50,000 students of the state origin in both public and private tertiary institutions had been captured to be paid N50,000 each, affirming that it had started with about 20,000 students to be covered by the end of the week.
Prof. Arigbabu also revealed that five exercise books would be given to 850,000 primary and secondary school learners, including those who did not benefit from the N10,000, adding that the governor was also preparing another package for the education sector.
Also speaking, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Education, Mrs. Ronke Soyombo, who also monitored the disbursement exercise, noted that money would make a difference in the lives of those who really need it, informing that those who have received their alert have promised to make judicious use of it.
Speaking in an interview, the Principal, Baptist Boys High School (Junior), Olarenwaju Lasabi, noted that some of the beneficiaries were chosen based on the inability of their parents to cater for their basic needs, adding that the gesture would go a long way in helping the beneficiaries.
Mrs. Odutayo Titilope, Principal, Senior School, Lisabi Grammar School, Idia-Aba, said 120 students were registered to benefit from the cash award in the school.
Reacting, Alhaji AbdulRahaman, a parent whose child attends African Church Grammar School, appreciated the governor for the gesture, saying it would go a long way in meeting the needs of his child, while Mrs. Funmi Alaka, a widow, appreciated Governor Abiodun for the kind gesture, affirmed that the cash award would help her in getting some of the things needed by her daughter.
Also, Mrs. Zainab Babatunji and Mrs. Abosede Ashamu, whose wards attend Holy Prophets Primary School, said though they initially had doubts about the cash award, the fact that they received the money was a testimony that, “it is not fake and the governor has the interest of the people at heart”.
Iyabo Kushimo, whose child attends Ebenezer Baptist Nursery and Primary School, Saje, Abeokuta, also confirmed the receipt of the N10,000 cash award, enthusing that she would use the money to buy school sandals and use the other part to pay her child’s transport fare.
Other schools visited by the Commissioner include, Unity High School, Ago-Ika and Agunbiade Victory High School, Magbon, all in Abeokuta, among others.
