Kogi Born U.S Based Doctor, Wife Boost STEM Education With Over N19 million Scholarship

BY Emmanuel Oluwakorede

In a bid to boost Science Engineering, Technology and Mathematics education, a United States-Based Medical Doctor, Samuel Oloyo and his wife, Julie Oloyo have offered over N19m scholarship and Awards to Students and Pupils in Ayetoro Gbede and Igbaruku in Ijumu and Yagba West Local Government Areas respectively.

The Scholarship Tagged “Scholarship and Educational Assistance Programme (SEAP)” the support is under their Non Governmental Organization, Global Health and Indigent Care Foundation Inc. (GHICF).

Speaking at the 4th Edition of the SEAP in Ayetoro Egbede, the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Foundation said the vision of the NGO remains promotion of STEM which are technical disciplines.

Represented by the Secretary of the Programme, Prince Richard Akanmode the GHICF President maintained that the Foundation is also focusing on public schools only to target children that are financially challenged, saying the effort of the body has yielded positive result since its commencement.

He applauded the Planning Committee for their level of commitment, enthusiasm, dedication, thoroughness and integrity put in place for the programme in the last four years.

“It should be noteworthy that no matter how well conceived an idea is, it will fail without the proper people and team who will execute it and bring the dream to fruition.

“The SEAP committee under the chairmanship of Mr.
Richard Olonishuwa and the secretary Mr. Richard Akanmode has competently filled this role. At this juncture I wish to also applaud Mr. Olu Olugbenga who handled the logistics and execution of the Igbaruku aspect of the program,”

They have demonstrated that while the provision of the funds to execute the program is important, it is even important to have the right people on ground to drive home the program.

Dr. Oloyo felicitated with the beneficiaries of the scholarship, saying the choice of STEM is to produce graduate that will add value to the country and not job seekers.

“To the beneficiaries of the scholarship and educational assistance program, I congratulate you. The world is now a smaller place than it has ever been. There is less global divide. You have to strategically position yourself in order to fit into the current world market dynamics. It is never too early to dream big. As a man think, so is he! If you think you are nothing, a kid from Ayetoro with no human connection and all odds stacked against you and that you will never make it; If that is your mindset, the chances are that you will indeed not make it. If on the other hand, you dream big, and you are diligent in what you do, working hard and believe that in spite of the hardships that you may encounter, nothing can prevent you from becoming one of the elites not only in Nigeria but on the planet.

In his remarks, the Chairman, Scholarship and Educational Assistance Programme (SEAP), Mr. Richard Olonishuwa explained that the aim of the Scholarship programme was to promote the study of STEM at the Secondary and tertiary schools in Ayetoro and Igbaruku communities by providing financial assistance to alleviate the burden of school fees payment.

According to him, the programme is merit-driven, saying it is also anchored on creating an environment for healthy competition and academic excellence as well as the bridge between dreams and achievements.

The Chairman stat d that over N55 million have been spent so far on the programme in the last four years as beneficiaries are only drawn from students of Tertiary, Secondary and Tertiary Schools in public schools.

He pointed out that the Committee has incorporated students with Special Needs in the programme with five of them identified to benefit this edition.

“This is a demonstration of the kind heartedness of Dr Samuel Oloyo and his wife in touching lives especially those who are not in a position to pay them back. We have good testimonies from the past beneficiaries that the interventions have facilitated their academic excellence in their studies.

“For example, Over the last 3 years, 5 students graduated with first class grade, 7 with 2.1 grade and many more still in school are within the thresholds at the tertiary level. This is a testament of the impacts the intervention is making in the lives of the beneficiaries with many more candidates on boarded yearly. 30 students at the tertiary level benefited from the scholarship last year.

“This has increased to 47 beneficiaries this year with a cumulative sum of N8.5Million (from N5.4M last year), with awards to each beneficiary ranging from N300,000 to N150,000, depending on course of study. These courses of study are spread across six categories of study such as Medicine, pharmacy, Dentistry, Engineering, Health Sciences, Agriculture, Basic Sciences and Computing.

“At the secondary education level, the Foundation is awarding a total sum of N350,000 to the 12 Students at the Senior Secondary schools who were adjudged exceptional across the 4 public secondary schools in Ayetoro Gbede, having scored an average of 85% and above in the various STEM subjects including the use of English Language in the immediate past academic year. Similarly, across the 4 public schools in the community, there are awards in the sum of 2.5M Awards, covering 172 students (with 455 awards), who scored between 75% and 84% in the various STEM subjects and the use of English in the last academic year, with some students wining awards in more than one subject.

In a message to the ceremony, the Olu of Ayetoro Gbede, Oba Sunday Adewumi Ologe applauded the sustained initiative which he described as a step in the right direction.

Oba Ologe requested for prayers for the Financiers of the Project as well as the Planning Committee, assuring of his support.