The Chairman,
Gwagwalada Area Council,  Alhaji Abubakar  Giri, has distributed about N5 million to 300 indigent students studying at various tertiary institutions in the country.
Giri, who was speaking at the official flag off of disbursement of bursary at the council’s secretariat to the students, said that the gesture was to support parents and guardians.
Giri noted that the objective of the grant was to assist indigent students in the council and to complement their parents’ effort in the quest for knowledge.
The chairman, who assured the students that the event would be an annual one, however, urged them to consider their educational pursuit as one of the cardinal principles of life.
“Education is an instrument of success and development for self and the entire society,’’ he said.
He urged parents and the entire residents of the council to cooperate with his administration, adding that it had commenced one of its several policies.
In his speech, the Chairman of the Committee for Scholarship award, Alhaji Sule Dobi, advised the students to ensure proper usage of the money given to them.
He challenged parents to send their wards to school, saying that it would not only benefit the students but also ensure the development of the country.
One of the beneficiaries,  a student of Theatre and Cultural Arts, Nassarawa State University, Ms Ramatu Hassan, who got N18, 000, said students had waited for the scholarship for long.
She, however, commended the council for its effort in giving the scholarship and promised to make good use of it.
Another beneficiary, Mr Rashed Abubakar, studying Agriculture at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, who got N 20,000, also commended the council for its effort and encouraged the council to make it a yearly event.
Speaking in an interview with newsmen, the students’ union leader, Gwagwalada branch, Mr Aliyu Dobi, said the award was timely, “now that schools have resumed’’.
He added that students had waited for such exercise for over 10 years and thanked the council for making the scholarship a reality.
Our correspondent reports that the money was distributed according to the course of study of the students, across the 10 political wards of the council.
Students of Medical Sciences got N 30,000, Arts and Social Sciences got N 20,000, students studying at the polytechnics and colleges of education were given N 18, 000.
In addition, students studying Arts at the colleges of education were given N15, 000 each.