The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Olabisi Onabanjo University chapter, has awarded scholarships worth N6.2m to 31 indigent students of the institution.
Dr. Ganiyu Yinusa, chairperson of ASUU’s OOU branch, said in a statement on Sunday that the gift was part of the union’s ongoing commitment to equity, increased access to education, and student welfare.
Yinusa added that each beneficiary received N200,000, increasing the total value of the scholarship initiative to N6.2 million.
“The financial support is intended to assist the students in the payment of school fees and other approved charges for the 2025/2026 academic session, thereby easing the financial burden on those from economically disadvantaged backgrounds,” he said.
He noted that the Indigent Students Scholarship Scheme was primarily sponsored through voluntary donations of sitting allowances accrued from multiple University Council sessions by internal University Council members, supplemented by direct financial contributions from ASUU-OOU as a chapter.
According to him, this “collective sacrifice underscores the union’s deep sense of responsibility, solidarity, and commitment to the welfare of students within the university community.”
Yinusa explained that the scholarship program is part of ASUU’s larger commitment to promoting inclusive education, avoiding student dropouts due to financial difficulty, and encouraging academic success.
The union maintained its position that no competent student should be denied access to higher education due to financial restrictions.
ASUU praised the University Council’s internal members for voluntarily donating their sitting allowances collected over multiple meetings, praising the action as a rare and admirable example of personal sacrifice in support of education and human capital development.
The union thanked the recipients and encouraged them to stay focused, disciplined, and committed to their academic goals, pointing out that the scholarship acts as both a support mechanism and a call to achievement.
The intervention strengthens ASUU’s role as a defender of staff welfare and university autonomy, as well as a key stakeholder in student development, social justice, and sustainable access to quality education in Nigerian universities.
Poverty is a major barrier to accessing quality education in the country.
The Managing Director of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, Akintunde Sawyerr, said the essence of NELFUND is to ensure that no eligible Nigerian student is deprived of higher education due to financial constraints.
Sawyer stated that as of December 2025, NELFUND had disbursed a total of N154.3bn in loans to 788,947 students across the country since the scheme began 19 months ago.
He explained that the beneficiaries were chosen from 1,265,509 applications submitted since distributions began on May 24, 2024.
Of the entire sum disbursed, N82.34 billion covered institutional fees, while N72.02 billion went to students’ maintenance allowances, which were dispersed across 262 institutions countrywide.
