An Enugu State lawmaker, Mr Jeff Mba, on Friday, empowered 56 undergraduates in his constituency to the tune of N2.5m to assist them in their academic pursuit.
Mba, representing Orji River constituency in the House of Assembly, said the bursary was intended to give back to his constituency, which found him worthy to represent them.
He said the selection was done equitably among the 29 communities in the constituency.
The first time assembly member said the gesture was a fulfillment of part of his campaign promises on human capital development.
He explained that he would also pay the West African Examination Council fees for candidates from the area and empower women engaged in small-scale businesses.
The Assemblyman, who is the House Committee Chairman on Information, said the empowerment would be a continuous exercise.
He promised to ensure that the dividend of democracy trickled down to the indigent members of the council.
“Part of what I am doing today is to augment the efforts of the state government in the good work it is doing in the area,” Mba said.
He promised to follow up all the budgetary allocations from the state government to the council area.
Mba also assured the people that he would ensure proper supervision of state government’s projects in the area to ensure their successful execution.
The legislator, however, appealed with Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi to upgrade the School of Health Technology and Veterinary Research Institute in Oji-River Local Government Area to enable them to serve their purpose.
In a remark, the Coordinator of the empowerment, Chief Steve Eboh, said the beneficiaries were carefully selected with two persons from each community.
Eboh, a Nollywood actor, said the committee would soon begin the consideration of the second batch of the bursary, slated for October.
He thanked the Assemblyman for his magnanimity, especially at a critical time “when feeding has become a problem for most Nigerians”.
Also, the Chairperson of Nike Lake Resort, Mrs Ugochi Mmadueke, expressed delight at the gesture, describing it as “commendable and worthy of emulation”.
Three of the beneficiaries, Chijioke Eze, Juliet Udeh and Blessing Nweke, expressed gratitude to the Mba for supporting the academic pursuit of indigent students in the area. (NAN)
