Gov. Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State on Tuesday distributed 14,000 bags of 7.5 kilogramme rice to no fewer than 7,000 students of four tertiary institutions in Lafia.
The benefiting students were from the Federal University of Lafia Isa Mustapha Agwai Polytechnic Lafia, College of Agriculture, Science and Technology Lafia, as well as the School of Nursing and Midwifery Lafia.
The governor also disbursed the sum of N5,000 to each of the beneficiaries, amounting to N35 million.
Sule, while distributing the rice at the various institutions said that the President Bola Tinubu led administration was aware of the hardship being faced by Nigerians and was doing its best to address the situation.
He said that the sub nationals were also following suit by reaching out to the people with palliatives to cushion the hardship.
“At the state level, we have gone round the 13 Local Government Areas to distribute palliatives and we decided to do same across all the tertiary institutions for students to also benefit,” he said.
He noted that the beneficiaries cut across all citizens of the country and not limited to indigenes of the state alone.
The governor said that the cash would be channeled through the school management and Students Union Government (SUG) bodies in the institutions.
He said that the gesture would subsequently be extended to the other tertiary institutions outside Lafia, the state capital.
The governor charged the students to be committed to their studies, be of good behaviours and make the nation great.
Earlier, the state’s Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs, Margaret Elayo, commended the governor for the gesture, saying it was a commitment to ensure that students were not left out of the palliatives to cushion the current hardship.
She explained that 4,000 students of the Federal University of Lafia, 2,000 students of Isa Mustapha Agwai Polytechnic Lafia, 500 students of College of Agriculture, Science and Technology as well as 500 students of the School of Nursing and Midwifery, all got two bags of 7.5kg rice each .
Elayo said that in all, 7,000 students benefitted from the 14,000 bags distributed.
She said that the state government was committed to nurturing and empowering students as future leaders without being encumbered by hunger and want.
Elayo encouraged the students to broaden their horizons by acquiring skills and vocations that would serve them beyond the classroom.
In a message, Shahu Abdul-Rahman, Vice Chancellor (VC) of the Federal University of Lafia expressed gratitude to the governor for the gesture.
The VC said that the gesture would bring great relief to the students in view of the current economic hardship.
Also, Peter Ayaka, President, Students Union Government, Isa Mustapha Agwai Polytechnic Lafia, appreciated the governor and said t would reduce the burden on their parents for a some time. (NAN).
