Ooni Sets Up Trust Fund to Pay tuition fees for 5 million university students
The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi Ojaja II has unveiled a trust fund targeted at paying tuition fees of five million students in Nigerian universities annually for four years.
The traditional ruler who unveiled the education trust fund, ‘Ooni of Ife Tertiary Tuition Fund’ in his palace at Ile-Ife yesterday, expressed optimism that the current ASUU strike would soon end to avoid further youth unrest.
The Ooni appealed to the federal government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to end the current strike in the nation’s universities in the interest of educational development and peace in the country.
He said the trust fund which would gulp N500 billion yearly was targeted at paying an average of N50,000 tuition fees of five million students in Nigerian universities annually for four years.
According to him, the current economic reality in the country prompted him to assist students to return to school. He expressed displeasure over the poor condition of some of the students in tertiary institutions.
The ooni noted that youth emancipation and empowerment had been his focus, saying Nigeria was sitting on a “keg of gunpowder” unless urgent steps are taken to address students’ problems.
“I am putting together an education trust fund to support what the government is doing, we are not all safe, we have to cut our social activities and focus more on youth empowerment. It is better to stay and fix this country than to be running out of the country.
“We are seated on a keg of gunpowder if we do not look at how best to assist our youth, I have said it before and I will keep saying it. We all had a feel of their anger during the #EndSARS protests, we must begin to engage them productively.
“The COVID-19 has made many youths and their parents jobless, while the current recession in the country is another blow which has made the youth to be the most vulnerable group in Nigeria.
“Before now, I had personally assisted many in paying tuition fees, vocational training, and other empowerment initiatives but I have come up with this to bring more beneficiaries on board,” he said.
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