Members of the Nigerian Legion have lauded Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State over the N100million scholarship donation for children of the legionnaires in the State.
Chairman of the Rivers State Command, Nigerian Legion, Justice Chichi made the commendation when he appeared as guest during a live Radio programme in Port Harcourt monitored by The Tide.
Recall that Governor Wike had announced N100million scholarship for the children of the legionnaires in the state in appreciation for the efforts of the serving and fallen heroes.
Justice Chichi while speaking on the donation further said the contributions of the Governor to the Nigerian Legion stood out, just as he assured that the funds would be judiciously utilized.
According to him, “Let me start by saying a very thank you to His Excellency the Governor of Rivers State, Chief (Barr) Nyesom Wike. He is one Governor whose contributions to the Nigerian legion stands out.
”So the contribution of N100million is very specific. You know every dying soldier worries about two specific things. One what happens to his children in his absence? Secondly, what happens to his wife in his absence? And this is one thing the Governor of Rivers State understands very well. And he was very specific in donating the money that it should be for scholarship of our dependents.”
Justice said he had initiated the scholarship programme two years ago where the Governor first approved the same amount during the emblem launch.
”You will recall that in 2018 when I was appointed as Sole Administrator by the Hon. Minister of Defense in charge of the legion in Rivers State, I initiated the scholarship scheme. I approached His Excellency with my address at the emblem launch and he released the sum of N100million to us which we went ahead and executed.
”It is on record that 55 students benefitted from the scholarship scheme and that scheme is subsisting. It was not just something we went to the streets and awarding scholarship to people. We constituted a scholarship board with powerful men on the board. We liaise with the Rivers State Government Scholarship Board and they gave us all it takes when it comes to approach and then we posted it on the website.
‘We announced the scholarship scheme and people applied from all the universities. We went ahead, screened them, confirmed their admission status in the university and then when the board was satisfied, they made recommendations and we awarded the scholarships. So this contribution is based on the identification that the major thing our children need is education.
So I want to say that that money (latest donation) will be judiciously applied in that direction and it would be accounted for. But I want to say that the scholarship board will be rejigged this time around

Dennis Naku & Ruth Alpheus