Adaeze Lawrence

Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto State has approved the release of N1 billion for the payment of registration fees and upkeep allowances of students being sponsored by the state government within and outside the country.

Permanent Secretary, Sokoto State Scholarship Board, Alhaji Bello Isah, in a statement, said the Governor had also approved the movement of students of Sokoto State origin from Ukraine to Sudan, Egypt and Turkey where they would continue their studies.

The breakdown of the amount is as follows; N188.5 million for the payment of registration fees to 5,643 state students in Sokoto State University; N312.9 million for 7,096 students in Usmanu Danfodiyo University for both fresh and returning students of the two institutions. $89,100 and £15,000 for the payment of tuition and upkeep allowances to some regular students in various institutions in London, Canada and other countries across the World. $570,000 equivalent to (N342,138.00), for the payment of tuition and upkeep allowances for new and old students studying various medical courses in Sudan.

Also, the sum of N42.1m will be spent for the tuition and upkeep allowances of three state indigenes sponsored on a two-year standard pilot course at the International Aviation College, Ilorin, Kwara State.

Alhaji Bello Isah further stated that the governor had directed the immediate absorption of 17 graduates of French Language from Abdou Mummuni University, Niamey, into the state civil service in order to enhance the teaching of the language in secondary schools, adding that another set of 20 will soon be sponsored by the state government to the institution to study French Language.