Blank NEWS Online (NIGERIA)– From Mike Sogola:

Borno Governor, Prof. Babagana Umara Zulum has approved the release of one million naira each to 26 citizens of the state undertaking different Degree programs at the Islamic University of Madinah in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The University is known to offer undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes on courses not only on Islam but also on sciences and engineering.

The Governor’s approval was one-off education subsidy meant to support the students who are not under the scholarship of Borno government.

The Governor announced the support after a delegation of the students met him in Madinah on Tuesday, while the he was on two days transit before he moved to Makkah the following day to perform the lesser hajj, Umrah.

Zulum, a Professor of Irrigation Agriculture, urged the students to be dedicated to their studies hoping that the subsidy he approved, should make them aim high grades ahead of their graduation. The support was for students of different levels, including those in final years, who would require financing some aspects of their dissertations.

The Governor also gave assurance of automatic employment to those who excel noting that with the government’s ongoing plans to increase the number of higher (integrated) Islamic schools, opportunities will be there for majority of the students. The higher Islamic school, long established in Borno state, provides opportunities for Islamic scholars who meet certain standards and pass foundation courses, to enroll for western education at post secondary levels.

Zulum’s subsidy was received with high gratitude by the students on whose behalf, Manzo Adam Mohammed, assured of their readiness to make the Governor proud. Their meeting, he said, was first of its kind.