The Governor of Ebonyi State, Francis Nwifuru, has disclosed that his government spent ₦500 million to send 204 postgraduate scholarship awardees to the United Kingdom (UK).
Naijaonpoint reports that Governor Nwifuru, on Saturday, sent 204 postgraduate scholarship recipients to the UK and 541 others to various universities in Nigeria for postgraduate programs.
Nwifuru said the scholarship was not just an investment in education, but an investment in the future of the State.
“It is an event that demonstrates our commitment to human capital development which occupies centre stage in our Government,” he said.
He urged the recipients to immerse themselves fully in their studies, embrace the cultures they encounter, and build networks that would be invaluable to their growth.
“But remember, your ultimate mission lies here at home. Upon completing your studies. For emphasis, we expect you to return to our State and channel your expertise into sectors that need your innovation, creativity, and leadership,” he advised.
Speaking on the cost of logistics for the awardees traveling to the UK, Nwifuru thanked Air Peace founder, Allen Onyema, for reducing costs for the government.
His words: “Let me thank Allen Onyema for showing a very great interest. For showing a very great interest. And I must thank him publicly and inform you about his contributions. I contacted Allen Onyema about two days ago and I told him, Allen, I am finding it difficult to transport my people from Nigeria to the United Kingdom. And he said, I have the solution. I said, what is the solution? He said, my aircraft is available. And if you had informed me earlier, Allen Onyema Foundation would have taken off all the resources and all the expenses. Would have paid it off. But since it is very prompt, there is nothing I could do. But I am going to give it to you in the price that you cannot find anywhere.
“And I want to inform you about it. We are sending 204 students. Total number ought to be 212. Three are heavily pregnant. Then the other three are being disqualified based on health issue. Two are already in the UK. There are now remaining 204. And what is leaving today (Saturday) is 204.
“And Allen told me, the price for aircraft to UK is 6 million per one person. And you can go and get it out. It is not a difficult thing. But if you calculate 6 million by 209, because five officials are going, if you calculate 6 million by 209, it is about one something billion. And he said to me, Ebonyi Governor, Mr Francis, you know you are a very strong man, very unassuming. What do you want?
“I said, give me the bill. He gave me the bill. He reduced the price down to 766.5 million. I am saying this to all of you, especially many of you that are traveling abroad, so that you know how many people you are indebted to. So that you know how many people you are indebted to.
“Now, when I look at it, it says 766.5 million. It is still very heavy for me. He said, how much will you pay? I said, we will pay 500 million. He said it is okay, Francis, pay the 500 million. Now, what that shows is that we are in the very right track. And I want you to know very well that what Allen did to us is more than 60% of the total costs. What he paid is more than 60%. So we are also very grateful to him.“