A non-government organisation, the Chinedu Ogah Foundation, has paid over sixteen million naira to the West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) and the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) for the registration of one thousand and seven indigent candidates in public and private schools across Ebonyi State.
Ebonyi State Controller of WAEC, Mrs. Gloria Mgbike, and the State Coordinator of JAMB, Mrs. Doris Enoch, made the confirmation at Girls High School, Agubia, in the Ikwo local government area of the state, during the distribution of checks to the two examination bodies by the founder of the foundation, Rt. Hon. Chinedu Ogah.
According to Mgbike, she received over N13 million for 507 WAEC registrations, while Mrs. Enoch said N3.8 million was paid by the foundation for the registration of 500 candidates.
The duo lauded Ogah for the gesture and urged the benefiting candidates to study hard and make him proud.
Mgbike said, “This year, a lot of students benefited from the payment of WAEC fees by Hon. Chinedu Ogah.
“The woman in charge of his foundation came in January to inform us that he is ready to register his constituents this year, and I want to confirm that 507 candidates benefitted. He paid WAEC over N13 million.”
On her part, Enoch said, “On the 10th of this month, we got an invitation from Hon. Chinedu Ogah that he is going to pay JAMB fees for 500 candidates.
“We, the parents that are here today, know that a JAMB form costs N7,700. If you multiply it by 500 candidates, you will know that it’s over N3 million.
“If everybody is doing things the way they are, the state will develop more than it does today,” she stated.
In their separate remarks, the state chairman of the Secondary Education Board, Mrs Lilian Nwankwo, and the chairman of the Ezza South local government, Mrs Euphemia Nwali, commended the foundation and urged the school principals to ensure there is improvement in the teaching and learning of their students to enable them to come out with flying colours.
However, the founder of the foundation and also the Member Representing Ikwo and Ezza South local government, Hon. Chinedu Ogah, while handing over the checks to the benefiting schools, warned the principals against collecting monies from the state government for the already benefiting students.
According to him, anyone found trying to collect any fees from the candidates shall be arrested and prosecuted according to the law.
Ogah, the Chairman of the House Committee on Reformatory Institutions, said he decided to issue checks to the examination bodies and not give cash to the beneficiaries this year to avoid misusing the funds the way some of them did in the past.
He urged them to call on him anytime his attention was needed.
“This is the 15th year I have been paying WAEC fees for students. I started doing this before I became an honourable member.
“Before, we used to give funds to the students to register for the WAEC fees, but we found out that some of them misused the funds. This is why we decided to pay directly to WAEC this year.
“We have 39 public secondary schools in the constituency and 29 private schools, and we have paid WAEC.
“The total number of students for whom we paid their WAEC fees this year is 507. We have paid JAMB fees for 500 persons for this year.”.
The lawmaker also issued checks for N454,800 and N254,000 to public and private schools as miscellaneous fees for the two examinations, awarded N100,000 each to law graduates from his constituents, and returned payments for WAEC and JAMB made by some of the beneficiaries.
Meanwhile, Governor Nwifuru commended the lawmaker for reducing the pressure on the education system.
He urged the principals to try as much as possible to groom the students successfully and ensure that the aim of education in their lives is achieved.
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