He said his administration from 2024 would pay N225,000 and N60,000 as scholarship and bursary to indigene students, as against the existing N200,000 and N50,000 respectively.

The governor also announced scholarships for the less privileged and physically challenged students in public tertiary institutions, noting that the scholarship would not be limited to Lagos indigene alone.

He also announced the appointment of four former Students Union leaders as his Senior Special Assistants, SSAs.

The appointed SSAs were Eniola Opeyemi, Kayode Samuel, Giwa Moore and Adeola Adewunmi.

Governor Sanwo-Olu spoke during a One-Day Interactive Session between him and Students Union Leaders and Stakeholders in Lagos State, organised by the Ministry of Tertiary Education, with the theme: “Students as Strategic Partners in the Governance Process: Challenges and Prospects for Youth Development.”

The event held at the Adeyemi Bero Hall, Alausa, was attended by members of the state cabinet, stakeholders in the tertiary education sector and delegates from 13 public tertiary institutions in Lagos State, which included Lagos State University, University of Lagos, Lagos State University of Science and Technology, Lagos State University of Education and Yaba College of Technology, among others.

Speaking during the interactive session, which lasted for over three hours, Governor Sanwo-Olu said his administration would continue to engage students constructively and enhance infrastructure in public institutions.

He said his administration would continue to develop an enduring and sustainable ecosystem to create a liveable as well as workable environment for students in all the public tertiary institutions in Lagos State.

Speaking on the importance of the interactive session, Governor Sanwo-Olu said the meeting was “apt because of the trending events in our state and Nigeria. It is a confidence-building process between the government and the governed. It is an opportunity for students and other stakeholders to vent their feelings, opinions, and suggestions on how to overcome challenges confronting our collective existence as a people.”

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Governor Sanwo-Olu while reiterating his government’s renewed commitment to Youth Development, Social Inclusion and Gender Equality in line with the ‘+’ in his administration’s THEMES+ agenda, rolled out key achievements of his government in different sectors, particularly in the tertiary education sector and called for collaborations to develop an ecosystem to build a solid Student-University-Government relationship.

The governor urged students to keep the hope alive and rest assured that their welfare and development would remain a top priority on his administration’s agenda.

Speaking earlier, Lagos State Commissioner for Tertiary Education, Mr. Tolani Sule, commended Governor Sanwo-Olu for his support, assuring that the ministry would sustain the legacy of excellence as it continued to dialogue and engage students and management of tertiary institutions, as well as stakeholders in its bid to foster an atmosphere of peace.

The commissioner said Governor Sanwo-Olu’s presence at the interactive session was a further demonstration of his administration’s commitment to quality tertiary education and youth development.

He said: “A stakeholder engagement like this becomes necessary in view of the noble role that our youths have to play in our development agenda. I, therefore commend Mr. Governor for giving accelerated approval to this programme, knowing fully that our youths hold the key to a greater tomorrow for our dear country.

“In spite of the present social economic challenges in the country, it is gratifying to note that the Lagos State government has continued to sustain the tempo of excellence in our tertiary institutions. Students and staff welfare have remained a top priority of the State government while various infrastructural development projects are either completed or ongoing across our campuses.

“This is leadership at play. In the last four and half years of this administration, it is remarkable to note that not any of our institutions have witnessed any student unrest nor staff industrial disharmony to warrant strike or closure of any of the State-owned institutions.

“Our academic calendars have been running smoothly since the beginning of this administration. We have continued to enjoy unprecedented stability in our academic calendars in the last four years. To me, it is a reflection of leadership quality and administrative excellence at the helm of affairs.”

Also speaking, the Guest Speaker and immediate past Vice Chancellor of Lagos State University, Prof. Olanrewaju Fagbohun, described Governor Sanwo-Olu as a man of legacy.

He commended the Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration for its constructive engagement, dialogue, collaborative problem-solving techniques and consultation.

Prof. Fagbohun also restated the need for regular consultation and prioritisation of students in the state for constructive criticism and engagement of government policies.

He also urged the state government to invest more in infrastructure, rethink student scholarships, subsidised health care services and establish fresh food markets on campuses as well as provide counseling and support for mental health issues to challenge the students to excel.

The panel of discussants, which comprised of Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Mr. Tokunbo Wahab; Special Adviser to the Governor on Housing, Mrs. Barakat Odunuga-Bakare; former Majority Leader of Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Sanai Agunbiade and former Students Union President of Lagos State University (LASU), Lukman Amolegbe, said stakeholders in the tertiary education sector must work together with government to strengthen education in Lagos State.

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The State government, on Wednesday, directed Lagos State Scholarship Board to award scholarship to the children of the slain officers up to university level.

The State Police Command bore huge loss in personnel, armoury and properties in the violence.

Twenty-nine Divisional Police Stations and 17 Police Posts were razed by hoodlums disguising as protesters.

Also, six police officers were lynched, 36 critically injured, while 71 police operational vehicles were torched.

In spite of the loss, the police said they remained undeterred in performing their constitutional duties.

Sanwo-Olu, on Wednesday, made the offer to take the bill of replacing the logistics lost by the police when he visited the Command headquarters in Ikeja to boost the morale of officers, following the demoralising events of the past week in which police officers and their stations were targeted by hoodlums.

The governor got the assurance of the police’s commitment to strengthen security across the state from the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Hakeem Odumosu.

Sanwo-Olu said the statutory duties of the Police could not be wished away because of the actions of a few bad eggs, noting that the impact of the police officers’ absence on the roads was generally felt by residents.

He said the state must put the event of the past week behind it and move on to restore peace across the communities.

To achieve this, police officers, he said, must regain their confidence.

He said: “Commissioner of Police has come forward with a number of requests, which we will need to address to boost the morale of officers after the last week’s event. As your governor, I have come here to take full responsibility for the loss your have suffered in terms of logistics. From tomorrow (Thursday), we will start implementing these requests.

“Through the Lagos State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF), we will be replacing the police operational vehicles burnt in the violence. We have bigger plan for all the police stations burnt down. We will look for the funds and build befitting stations that will set the standard of what police stations should be.

“The most important requests is to offer scholarship to the children of officers that died. I have directed the Lagos State Scholarship Board under the Special Adviser on Education to immediately award scholarship to the children of the slain officers.”

Sanwo-Olu said the state government would also be compensating family members of the officers killed in the violence and take care of the burial arrangement of the slain officers, adding that the state would also be picking up the hospital bills of those injured in the mayhem.

Police officers serving in Lagos are also to get life insurance from the a state government, Sanwo-Olu promised.

The governor directed the Executive Secretary of LSSTF, Dr. Rasaq Balogun, to establish the modality with the police leadership in the state.

The governor also approved the request to upgrade Police Cottage Hospital in Ikeja, directing the Commissioner for Health to inspect the facility for the required upgrade.

In addition to donating two 150KVa generating set to the police, Sanwo-Olu said the Command headquarters would be connected to the state’s Independent Power Project (IPP) for constant power supply.

He said: “The reform that you truly desire is starting today. The reform which the youths had clamoured for through the EndSARS protest is taking off and we will continue to engage the police on how to improve on what we have started. We will take up this cause with the objective to effect desired change and we will approach the high authorities for the requests that are not in our control.

“I will be leaving you with the thought that you all have responsibility to secure lives and properties. Your uniform is not for oppression; it is a symbol of dignity and discipline. You must protect the fundamental rights of all citizens without compromising ethics of your duty. It is only when you do this that the citizens would see that we have a Police that is truly responsible.”

Sanwo-Olu said the state would be championing the cause to improve citizen-police relationship to prevent re-occurrence of the issues that led to the EndSARS protest.

Odumosu said the manner with which the slain officers were murdered brought down morale in the command.

He said the police officers remained committed to their statutory responsibilities, thanking the governor for approving their requests

The gesture, the police boss said, would restore confidence in the state’s police workforce.

Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police in charge of Research and Planning, Leye Oyebade, said the Police took away valuable lessons from the EndSARS protest, noting that there was no better time to fully implement the community policing than now.

He said the protest had ended and it was time for the police to win back citizens’ confidence and trust.

He said: “As police officers, we must now go back to the drawing board and cultivate the goodwill of the communities in which we operate. I’m particularly charging divisional police headquarters to devise strategies tailored toward your local realities and employ digital tools.”

Top police officers, who attended the meeting with the governor, included the Assistant Inspector General (AIG) in charge of Zone II, Ahmed Ilyasu, all Deputy Commissioners of Police and all the 14 Area Commanders across the state.

Also present were all the 110 officers in charge of all Divisional Police Stations and heads of the 56 Police Departments across the state.

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The scholarship is in any science-related discipline of their choice at any university in the country.

Declaring open the 2020 Science, Technology and Innovation Expo with the theme ”Enhancing The Growth Of A Diversified Economy Through Science And Technology,” the president commended the creativity and competitive spirit of the three young students who emerged tops in the competition tagged 774 Young Nigerian Scientists Presidential Award (774 YONSPA).

The students are Masters Akintade Abdullahi Akanbi of Osun State from Osogbo Government High School Osogbo, Osun State, who came first; while the second positions went to Uwakwe Nelson Kamsiyochukwu of Anambra State from British Spring College,  Awka and Aimofumhe Eshiobomhe Sigmus of FCT from the School of the Gifted, Gwagwalada, Abuja, respectively.

President Buhari noted that Nigeria’s greatest resource was its human capital, assuring that his administration would continue to support human resource development.

”This is richly embodied in our youth who make up tens of millions of incredibly talented persons, constantly pushing and striving towards greatness. The future of Nigeria belongs to our youth.

”This Administration will therefore continue to create the enabling environment for them to develop to the fullest, their potentials.

”We will harness their energy and their talents to make Nigeria achieve true greatness,” he said.

The president reiterated the commitment of the Federal Government to partner with the private sector on science, technology and innovation sector development towards ensuring that the sector plays the very important role in advancing the frontiers of knowledge for nation building.

”Government will continually support the creation of intervention funds to strengthen research and development, human capacity building programmes and collaboration with the organised private sector.

”We will continue to work towards the realisation of the National Research and Innovation Fund. I am aware, this Fund will help promote research activities in our country,” he said.

The president, therefore, directed the ministers of science and technology to create the needed opportunities to ensure that Nigerian scientists work towards providing solutions to the nation’s challenges of insecurity, unemployment, poverty, healthcare delivery and power, among others.

The president affirmed that if Nigerian potentials in the Science and Technology Sector were properly harnessed, with the enabling environment created, 100 million Nigerians would be taken out of poverty in the next ten years.

”This remains my aim for Nigerians,” he stressed, noting that Nigerians at home and abroad had always demonstrated remarkable ingenuity and inventiveness and with the right environment, and policy framework, there was no limit to how far Nigerian innovation could go.

”A prime example of an outstanding Nigerian is Malam Jelani Aliyu, who is now Director-General of the National Automatic Design and Development Council.

”Malam Jelani designed the General Motors of America’s leading auto brand, the Chevrolet Volt. Now he is assuring Nigerians that all the cars that took part in Argungu Motor Rally were assembled in Nigeria,” he said.

In his remarks, the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, thanked the president for the awards to the students and other efforts in promoting STI, including recognizing the sector as being at the centre of all economic activities under the Economic Recovery and  Growth Plan (ERGP) 2017-2020.

The minister said in the last six months of the second term of President Buhari, the STI sector helped create over 900,000 jobs while data from the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, show that Nigeria saved over N1 trillion in the importation of raw materials in both 2017 and 2018.

”The data for 2019 is yet to be released. Patents from scientists and engineers, who passed through the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), an agency under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology, have continued to increase.

”In 2015, the first year of the Buhari administration, it was only six. In 2016, it was 16; 50 in 2017; 55 in 2018 and 57 in 2019,” he said.

As the Covid-19 crisis spreads across the globe, Dr. Onu declared that what was happening around the world was a wake-up call to intensify efforts to manufacture goods locally and patronize made-in-Nigeria products.

”The Presidential Executive Order No. 5 and the National Strategy for Competitiveness in Raw Materials and Product Development in the country already passed by the Federal Executive Council will help in realising this noble objective,” he said.

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The payment, made straight to beneficiaries’ accounts, was done in two batches after thorough screenings of the scholarship applicants, according to the statement by Commissioner for Tertiary Education, Science and Technology, Hajia Sa’adatu Modibbo-Kawu.

The statement said the first batch comprised 68 backlog students who are still in the law school out of the 89 who applied, while the second batch involved 111 lawyers of Kwara State origin that were called to bar last year November.

“The verification process in the first batch saved the government N2.1million as 21 of the original 89 applicants were screened out on various grounds. Some of them have graduated from law schools, some are non- Kwarans and about 7 of them are neither Kwarans nor in law schools. The successful applicants were paid late December, 2019,” the statement said.

“Yesterday, Friday 10 January, 2020, the government concluded the second batch by paying (N100,000 each) to 111 law school graduates who were recently called to bar after online and physical verification duly monitored by all the stakeholders.”

The government also saved N5.8 million as only 111 of the 169 on the approved list survived the screening exercise.

The government had in November paid N5000 bursary each to 8,304 final year students in all the Government-owned (state and federal) tertiary institutions across the country.

Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, meanwhile, has commended one Barrister Yunusa AbdulMutallab, one of the beneficiaries, who was twice credited during the exercise due to network glitches but voluntarily returned the extra payment of N100,000 to the ministry.

“His action is quite inspiring and reassuring that this state has a bright future. The governor hereby commends this fine learned gentleman for his honesty and contentment. We are in fact proud of him and wish him success in all of his endeavours,” he said.

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The state Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, made the announcement during a Gala Nite that wrapped up day two of the Oyo State Officials’ Wives Association’s National Women Summit, in Ibadan, on Thursday.

The three-day annual event was organised by the wife of the governor, Mrs Florence Ajimobi, as a platform to galvanise wives of elected and appointed officials of the state into rallying women of the state for political and social prominence.

Speaking on the scholarship award, the governor said that the gesture was an incentive to encourage the girl child that they could outsmart and outperform their male folks with hard work, dedication and determination.

The announcement of the scholarship was one of the major highlights of the event, where seven brand new cars were also given out to winners of a raffle draw, who had earlier purchased tickets during the programme.

Apart from the star prize, others also won deep freezers, sewing machine, iced coolers, microwave oven, grinding machine, power generator, refrigerators among other items.

Sixteen-year-old Itunuoluwa, who is currently an A-Level student of the Vale College, Ibadan, was born into the family of Pastor Olukunmi and Mrs Olubusola Joel of Osatan Compound, Ojagbo, Ibadan.

The governor said, “Itunu is an inspiration to other girls, having distinguished herself in academic performance right from her days at Canon Okuseinde Memorial Primary School, Aremo, Ibadan, where she was the best pupil.

“In her secondary education, she sat for the 2017/2018 SSSCE and scored distinction in four out of nine subjects. In fact, it has been a harvest of scholarships for the young girl since 2017 when a philanthropist paid her NECO fee.

“In 2018, she took part in a quiz competition organized by the Vale College and emerged as the overall best. For her feat, she was offered A-levels scholarship by the management of the college, where she currently studies.

“Tonight, the state government is adding to these awards by offering her full scholarship for her university education for her exemplary brilliance and dedication to her studies. I hope this will incentivize other girls to break the glass ceilings.”

Also at the event, the first award of honour presented to women who have distinguished themselves in their chosen carriers went to the governor’s wife for lifting several thousands of women out of the vicious circle of poverty.

Other awardees of the night included foremost educationist and founder of Bodija International School, Mrs Aina Esho; Professor Oluyemisi Bamgbose, Mrs Mobola Sagoe.

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