Date: 2018-02-05

They should exercise patience- Scholarship Board Chair

Students of Kwara State origin in all the six campuses of the Nigerian Law School have appealed to the state government to make their bursary award a priority.

The concerned students are currently undergoing one year training in Abuja, Kano, Lagos, Enugu, Yola and Yenagoa campuses of the Nigerian Law School.

The students under the aegis of National Association of Kwara State Law students , in a statement signed by its Coordinators, Ahmed Ismail Olayinka from Abuja Campus and Wiridi Abdulwasiu Azeez from Kano Campus yesterday, noted with displeasure that the huge sum of money being paid as school fees in the Nigerian Law School was biting hard on the students.

The statement observed that the Kwara State Government had stopped assisting Kwarans in the law school for the past five years.

This, it added had prevented many graduates of law who could not afford to pay the school fees from pursuing their BL programme in the Nigerian Law School.

The statement noted that some of the students who are presently in law school were still battling with loan repayment and other financial commitments.

The association said it had submitted the list of more than 145 students presently in all six campuses of the Nigerian Law School to the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Scholarship Board, Attorney General of the state as well as Commissioner for Education, among others.

It added that no positive response had been received from all quarters where the letters had been submitted.

The statement said some of their colleagues from other states of the federation had been assisted by their governments.

It noted that the scholarship award remains the only benefit they could enjoy from the government.

When contacted, the Chairman of Kwara State Scholarship Board, Barr. Fatimah Yusuf Sheu confirmed the receipt of the letter urging the students to be patient with the state government.

Speaking further, Barr Yusuf Sheu said, "The Kwara State Government as a responsive administration share in the plights of our law students. I can confirm to you the receipt of their letter which has been forwarded to our amiable Governor, Dr Abdulfatah Ahmed.

"We are currently faced with cash crunch and I will implore them to be patient with the government. I want to assure them that as soon as the purse of the government improves, we will be reaching out to them. Meanwhile, the law students may write another letter to us as a reminder," she stated.

When informed that the students claimed the state government had stopped assisting Kwarans in the law school for the past five years, the Scholarship Board Chairman said, "that I cannot confirm but what I can tell you is that Governor Ahmed is committed to the welfare of students of Kwara origin regardless of where they may be schooling."