Governor Uba Sani has refocused the Kaduna State Scholarship and Loans Board to reflect his administration’s policy of inclusion without sacrificing merit.

The Executive Secretary of the Board, Prof. Yahya Sale Ibrahim, who disclosed this at a media briefing on Friday, said that the Governor’s new template has started bearing fruits.

Prof. Ibrahim said that students from humble backgrounds and those from rural local governments and remote rural communities are now benefitting from foreign scholarships, which has expanded and enriched the Kaduna State Scholarship award system.

The Executive Secretary noted that “in the past, beneficiaries of foreign scholarships were mostly from urban local governments like Kaduna North, Kaduna South, Igabi, Zaria, Sabon Gari, Jema’a and Zangon Kataf local governments.

“But the all-inclusive government of Senator Uba Sani changed the narratives within the shortest time,” he disclosed.

According to the Executive Secretary, prior to the coming of Governor Uba Sani, the beneficiaries, “were mostly from middle and upper middle class families who attended elite secondary schools and whose parents can sponsor their wards to any university abroad.”

Ibrahim pointed out that the Uba Sani administration has made deliberate efforts to include students from “remote local governments and those from humble backgrounds, to benefit from the scholarship scheme without lowering standards.”

The Executive Secretary argued that the last set of beneficiaries who graduated as medical doctors showed that the lower segment of Kaduna State was carried along in the selection process.”

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“For example, there was a female beneficiary who lived in Television Village, Kaduna, whose father is deceased amongst the new medical doctors.

“There’s another one from Jaba local government whose father is a retired civil servant.

“From Ikara local government, there’s also someone who benefited from the foreign scholarship. His father is also a retired civil servant, and today, he is a medical doctor,” the Executive Secretary explained.

Ibrahim thanked Governor Uba Sani for giving the young medical doctors employments, in order to boost the stock of personnel in public hospitals.

“The impact of His Excellency’s decision to employ these young and talented medical doctors in terms of reduction in waiting time to see doctors will improve the health sector,” he added.

“The gesture will also serve as impetus for students on scholarship to put in their best, knowing that their hardwork will be rewarded,” he added.

The Star