Ribadu to PAP beneficiaries: Become leaders of your institutions… don’t waste your scholarships

Nuhu Ribadu, the national security adviser, has called on students under the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) scholarship scheme to be leaders in their respective institutions.

Ribadu spoke on Friday at the orientation programme for 1,700 scholarship beneficiaries deployed in various Nigerian institutions by the PAP for the 2024/2025 academic session in Warri, Delta state.

The NSA was represented by Goodluck Ebelo, his special assistant on Niger Delta.

He urged the undergraduates to take advantage of their sponsorship to acquire higher education and contribute to national growth and development after graduation.

He said: “With this scholarship given to you, you have a huge opportunity to excel in your studies. Please, be shining lights in your different institutions of study and the expectation is that you will be very good students of this country.”

Dennis Otuaro, the PAP administrator, said the deployment of the beneficiaries signified a consolidation of the Niger Delta human resources base through the scholarship scheme.

Otuaro said formal education was a critical component of the PAP’s intervention aimed at creating opportunities for the youths of the region to achieve their dream of getting a university education.

He said: “By sponsoring you for undergraduate studies, the PAP has taken a bold step to strategically deepen the Niger Delta formal education trajectory of bridging the human capital development gap to foster the region’s social-economic status. In fact, this is my desire and vision for our people.

“The selection process for the award of scholarship to beneficiaries for the 2024/2025 academic session was open, transparent and thorough and I take responsibility for the process.

“We have, as a result, deployed about 1,700 students for this academic session. My leadership would always maintain high standards and work hard to ensure everyone was fairly treated in the selection process.”

Otuaro said President Bola Tinubu was very delighted at the incredible academic progress that PAP scholarship beneficiaries were making in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

Also speaking, Charles Ariye, PAP’s head of formal education, urged the beneficiaries to use the opportunity to better themselves by learning from their academic mentors and contributing to their academic communities.

SP Luke, the Pere of Akugbene-Mein Kingdom and first vice-chairman, Delta State Traditional Rulers Council; and Reuben Wilson, the founder of Leadership, Peace and Cultural Development Initiative, admonished the students to avoid shortcuts to academic success.