The National Association of Ogun State Students (NAOSS) on Wednesday commended Gov. Dapo Abiodun for paying bursary to indigenes of the state studying in various tertiary institutions across the country.
Mr Gbemileke Ogunrombi, the National President, NAOSS, gave the commendation during a press conference in Abeokuta.
Ogunrombi appreciated the state governor for keeping to his promise, saying that the bursary payment came eight years after previous administrations stopped it.
He said the payment would go a long way in motivating the students to focus on their studies.
He said “I am glad to inform you that the Ogun State Government has commenced the payment of bursary to students who are indigenes of the state studying in various tertiary institutions across the country.”
He said that the beneficiaries of the bursary were those whose data had been captured by their various institutions and sent to the government for payment.
He implored other students who were yet to provide the government with their data to do so as soon as possible.
Ogunrombi noted that the governor’s gesture had restored the faith and trust that students once had in government.
He expressed displeasure with the state ministry of education for bypassing and shutting out the association in the process of collating the data of students and payment of the bursary.
“According to the government, about 276,000 students who are indigenes of Ogun have been captured for the bursary payment.
“The association wonders how the government got the figures. The government, through the ministry of education ought to have carried the association along in the process.
“We fear that with this, Ogun students who truly deserve the bursary might not get what is rightfully due to them,” he said.
Ogunrombi said that NAOSS as the representative of Ogun students had put measures in place to monitor the payment of the bursary to deserving students.
He said that the state governor had particularly turned the fortunes of education in the state around for good and also performed creditably in other sectors.