300 physically-challenged undergraduates get scholarship in Enugu

SUCCOUR came the ways of 300 physically-challenged undergraduates of Enugu State origin last week when the state government doled out N300,000 as scholarships to each of them to augment the cost of their education.
The State Commissioner for information, Dr Godwin Udeuhele, said beneficiaries of the scholarship which commences this September were drawn from the three senatorial zones of Enugu-East, Enugu North and Enugu-West that make up the state.
Dr Udeuhele said, “The cut-off marks for this laudable exercise were carefully determined to ensure that the three senatorial zones of the state were equitably represented”, he said, noting that each of the beneficiary was entitled to N100,000 and that all physically-challenged undergraduates of the state who applied for the scheme were selected irrespective of their cut-off marks.
Explaining further, the state’s Commissioner for Education, Professor Uche Eze, said the initiative was conceived by the Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi administration to give every indigene of Enugu State a sense of belonging irrespective of social status or political leaning.
“If the cut-off mark is strictly adhered to, you will see that a particular senatorial zone will be denied the opportunity since everybody is not equally gifted intellectually. So the cut-off mark varies to ensure that equal opportunity was given to beneficiaries of the three senatorial zones.”
In another development,  the state executive council has approved the employment of 10 additional resident doctors for ESUT Teaching Hospital, Parklane.
Dr Udeuhele explained that although an earlier approval and recruitment of resident doctors had been made, there was the need to employ more doctors given the increasing number of patients attending the hospital on daily basis.
Also approved was the total sum of N57,325,443 for the purchase of utility vehicles to be equipped with basic and technical rescue requirement for the Enugu State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), the coordinating agency for all emergencies and disasters in collaboration with NEMA, FRSC, Civil Defence, among others.
Udeuhele informed journalists that the council equally approved the commencement of tree-planting exercise to be undertaken by members of the Enugu Diaspora Organization (EDO). This project according to him would complement the city beautification efforts of the Enugu State government.