Kano, French govt spend over N600m on joint postgraduate scholarship

The Kano State Government says over N600 million has been spent on ongoing joint tuition-free postgraduate scholarship, between it and the French Embassy in Nigeria.

Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje disclosed this on Tuesday in Kano while presenting travelling documents to the 4th batch of beneficiaries of the programme, selected from the state’s tertiary institutions.

Ganduje said that the fourth batch of beneficiaries included lecturers, as the scheme was also meant to enhance the capacity of lecturers in the state-owned tertiary institutions.

Ganduje, represented by his deputy, Dr Nasiru Gawuna, said that the administration was spending a lot of resources to ensure that it’s serving lecturers get the best of training required to improve their performance.

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“Under this programme, a lot of money has been spent based on 60 per cent /40 per cent agreement, where French Government pays 60 per cent, Kano Government takes 40 per cent to ensure that our lecturers from tertiary institutions get the best training.

“So far, with this batch, by the time everything is been paid, over N600 million has been spent on the programme, “he said.

Ganduje said under the programme, all the candidates were admitted into top-ranking universities in France and some European countries.

“This will certainly benefit the state in a couple of years,” he said.

He commended the heads of the various tertiary institutions for their commitment toward ensuring that education and other development activities in the state were given all the necessary attention and fairness.

The governor urged beneficiaries of the scholarship to be good ambassadors of the state and Nigeria.

Earlier, the Vice-Chancellor, Kano University of Technology, Prof. Shehu Musa, said that the beneficiaries were selected based on merit.

“So far, the first, second and third sets of the students sent from Kano have made the state proud,” he said.

He thanked the governor for supporting the programme and identifying with tertiary institutions in Kano, assuring that they would continue to remain grateful to his administration.

Speaking on behalf of the beneficiaries, Mustapha Sani Musa from the Kano University of Technology, promised to represent the state and perform excellently in their courses.