The programme was launched by the state governor Dapo Abiodun and his wife in memory of their late son, Gbemiga Abiodun, popularly called DJ Olu, on October 7, 2023, in Iperu, the governor’s hometown.
DJ Olu until his untimely death in 2017 was the official Disc Jockey for the famous hip hop artiste, Davido.
Speaking during the presentation of the cash scholarship award to the beneficiaries at Christ Apostolic Grammar School, Iperu, Abiodun described the programme as a demonstration of how best to remember, honuor and celebrate loved ones.
Represented by the Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Prof. Abayomi Arigbabu, the governor presented 224 beneficiaries from the primary school with each receiving a cash reward of N50,000 each, a school bag and four exercise books; 279 beneficiaries from secondary schools received N100,000 each with school bags and six exercise books each; while 100 beneficiaries from tertiary institutions got cash rewards of N250,000 each with eight exercise books.
Abiodun also disclosed that 113 beneficiaries were drawn from the Local Government’s list, with 44 and 69 beneficiaries from the primary and secondary school categories, respectively.
He added that in the primary school category, Ikenne, Remo North and Sagamu LGs had 56, 45 and 79 beneficiaries respectively.
The governor further said that in the secondary category; 70, 48 and 92 beneficiaries were picked from the aforementioned LGs.
“As we are seated here, there are 603 students that have been chosen for this award and as I mentioned the last time, most of these scholarships are actually based on merits.
“Because we have a digitalised system in Ogun State through which we can track most of the things we do in the education sector, we were able to go into the digital platform of Education Revitalisation in Ogun State to get the best students in each of the local governments.
“If you find out that some schools have more recipients than others, it is not because they are favoured, it is because more students have done well in these schools and you know it is based on the performance of the unified examination,” he said.
Arigbabu noted that the cash awards in the tertiary category would be paid directly to the various institutions of the beneficiaries.
“What we have done is to calculate. For instance, we have the details according to institutions. For Abraham Adesanya Polytechnic, the total number of beneficiaries is eight.
“It is a total of eight multiplied by N250,000, that is N2 million that will go to the institution. However, it is meant to ensure that your school fees are paid out of that money. We don’t know how much the school fees are; it varies. Some of you have paid already, while some are yet to pay.
“What we want to ensure is that when the money gets to the institution, they remove the school fees and then give you the balance. We want to ensure that the scholarship is used for the purpose it is designed for,” he added.
Adegboye Oluwademilade Samuel from Ogunlesi Model College and Adenuga Feranmi from Daniel Comprehensive High School, Sagamu both thanked the governor and his family for looking out for their success through the launching of the programme, and promised to continue to work harder academically.
The Head Teacher, African Church School, Sagamu, Mrs. Hannah Oredeko, who appreciated the governor and his family for the programme, urged the beneficiaries to make good use of the grants.
Also, the principal, Christ Apostolic Grammar School (Junior), Iperu, Mr. Nofiu Momoh, who described the governor as a man with a human heart, charged the students to continue to work hard.
A friend of Gbemiga Abiodun, Feyisayo Oyefesobi, described Gbemiga as a good friend.
“It is good to be able to give back and keep his name shining. The beneficiaries should work hard, be focused, hardworking and maintain a good relationship with God,” he added.
