. . . releases another N100M for continuation of payment

By Ubon Marcus

The Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Pastor Umo Eno has released an additional sum of N100M for the next phase of the ongoing payment of bursaries to undergraduate students of Akwa Ibom origin studying in tertiary institutions across the country.

This tranch, as explained by the Personal Assistant to the Governor on Students’ Affairs, Comrade Wisdom Emmanuel, is a continuation of the bursary payment process that began on November 20, 2023, for the 2023/2024 academic session.

According to information on the State Bursary Portal obtained on March 3, 2024, 9,980 students have so far been paid since the commencement of the exercise, making it a total of Ninety Nine Million, Eight Hundred Thousand Naira (N99,800,000.00) so far disbursed for the payment of bursaries to undergraduates by the Umo Eno administration.

This is in fulfilment of Pastor Umo Eno’s promise to the Akwa Ibom Students’ community during his electioneering days and also in furtherance of his educational goals in the ARISE Agenda.

A unique feature of the ongoing bursary payment exercise is the digitalization of the process—a novel initiative that has brought enhanced transparency to bursary payment in the state, exempted beneficiaries from meddlesome interlopers, and saved them from the inconveniences of travelling long distances down home to queue for days on end so as to present their documents for verification and screening before getting paid.

All they are required to do is visit the State Bursary Portal at wwwdotbursarydotakwaibomstatedotgovdotng, register for a bursary, input their details, proceed to create a log-in account, and upload their documents to the online portal for verification.

Once verified, the student’s bank account will be credited. It is that simple.

The Directorate of ICT and Digital Services, domiciled in the Office of the Governor, is saddled with the responsibility of managing the bursary portal, and so far, they have done a good job.

However, it must be noted that the bursary payment exercise will not run ad-infinitum as it is scheduled to close at midnight on April 30, 2024. Eligible students who have yet to register have ample time to do so before the portal closes on the aforementioned date.

Gov. Umo Eno’s monetary intervention in education goes beyond the payment of bursaries. Recall that upon assumption of office, he instituted a N100M educational trust fund for persons living with disabilities in the state. Payment has since commenced in the sums of N250,000.00 and N300,000.00 each, which have been paid to undergraduate and postgraduate physically challenged students, respectively.

A N10M scholarship to the winner of the 2023 Heirs Life National Essay Competition, N5M law school grant to a physically challenged Uniuyo Law student, etc. also stand to the Governor’s credit.

As the bursary payment progresses, students must be weary of mischief-makers who may attempt to defraud them; therefore, it is pertinent to emphasise that they can only apply for, and receive their bursaries via the aforementioned state bursary portal.

They must maintain vigilance at all times, be wary of cloned websites claiming to handle bursary disbursements, and note that the state government will never request money or sensitive banking details from them; hence, they should avoid disclosing sensitive information on unauthorised platforms.

The AKS Bursary Support Team is available to attend to inquiries via email at bursary@akwaibomstate.gov.ng.

#AriseAgenda
#StrategicCommunication