Ogun State Government has disclosed that at least 20,000 students in tertiary institutions across the country have so far benefited from its ongoing Educash transfer of N50,000 to mitigate the current economic hardships being experienced by undergraduates in the country.
This is even as he said that 10,000 indigent students in both primary and secondary schools across the state have also benefitted from the N10,000 cash transfer.
The Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Prof Abayomi Arigbabu, made this disclosure after monitoring the cash transfer to public primary and secondary schools at the Ogun West Senatorial District on Wednesday.
According to him, by the end of next week, more students would have benefited from the gesture at both the tertiary and secondary/primary levels, even as he promised that all students captured would be paid.
He said: “I can tell you that for the one of the tertiary institutions, we have done 20,000 as at today, and the total for the tertiary institution beneficiaries is a little bit less than 50,000. Hopefully, by the end of next week, we will have reached half of that, which is about 25,000 beneficiaries.
“I want to assure those who have not received theirs, for instance, Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), a list of a little bit over 12,000 was sent to us. As we speak now, we have paid just a little less than 6,000. The same thing at Tai Solarin University of Education (TASUED), where we have a little bit less than 8,000. We have tried to make sure we are targeting between the range of 45% to 50% in all the schools”, the commissioner added.
Arigbabu also said that the state government would not entertain cash payment during the ongoing exercise to students in public primary and secondary schools.
He noted that the government would still avail any parent without a bank account an opportunity to do so as long as they have already been captured for the educash payment.
The commissioner said: “We are not going to pay cash to anybody; we are not going to handle cash. We are going to pay through the account. If that person doesn’t have an account, they need to open an account because it is difficult to trace cash transactions.
“Today, as we have gone out, if I say I have paid 100 people, how will you confirm that? But, the one we have done through transfers, you can see it through bank statements and the alerts they receive.
“We want to avoid anything that will make us pay cash. We won’t even pay cash, I can assure you.
“Those who have not opened account, if the name was captured and sent to us, that is for primary and secondary beneficiaries, what we can do for that person is to allow him or her to open a bank account and send the details to us.
“For parents whose children were selected in the primary and secondary as a result of indigency, we will look into that particular case. If we have a parent that has no account, we will allow him/her to open an account and send it to us”, Arigbabu added.
At the Christ Apostolic Church School 1, Ilaro, Mr. Akeem Solomon Durosinmi and Mrs Akinlade both thanked Governor Dapo Abiodun for having the welfare of their children at heart, adding that the money would go a long way in helping them to provide more for their children.
Also, Mr. Dada Amidu Ayinde, Mrs Victoria Joseph, and Mr. Timothy Adeosun at Baptist High School, in Ilaro, commended the governor for the gesture, promising that they would ensure that the Educash is used for the purpose it was meant for.
At Nawair-ud-Deen Nursery and Primary School, also in Ilaro, Mrs Onilu Deborah and Mrs. Olabisi Oluwatoyin expressed their happiness at the kind gesture of the governor.
Some of the other schools visited by the team include Yewa Egbado College, United African Methodist Church School 1 and 2 Pahayi, Itolu Community High School, Anglican High School, Methodist Wesley Nursery and Primary School, Gbogodo, F. O Ahmaddiyah Primary School, Ilaro, Christ Church School, Ilaro, Nawair-ud-Deen Nursery and Primary School and Baptist High School.
