Governor Dikko Radda of Katsina State says his administration has spent N900 million on 41 indigent students to study Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) in Al-Nahda University, Egypt.
The governor disclosed this on Monday at the Official Launching of Foreign Scholarship for MBBS in Katsina.
He said the indigent students were selected on merits, after an examination was conducted for the interested candidates that attended public secondary schools in the state.
According to him, the amount will cover all their study expenses and other basic needs for two years.
He said the state government embarked on foreign scholarship for MBBS students programme to address the shortage of medical doctors the state.
“Some people text me that what we are doing will not yield any result because the students are from public schools and cannot be able to read MBBS and pass the examination.
“I said, let’s try. I, as a governor, equally attended public schools.
“Elite, including myself, have the capacity to take their children to private schools and even outside the country for studies.
“So, why should we provide that opportunity to those kinds of people? Why not provide such opportunities to the children of the poor who are residing in rural areas to harness their potential,” he said.
He urged the students to read hard and be good ambassadors of their families, state and the country while in Egypt.
The governor also urged parents to intensify efforts in ensuring proper upbringing of their children to enable them become responsible members of the society.
In his remarks, ALGON Chairman, Alhaji Lawal Yandaki, thanked the governor for the initiative, saying that the government’s human-capital development programmes would address insecurity in the state.
Yandaki added that by the end of the governor’s tenure, the state would witness massive transformation in all sectors of human endeavours.
Speaking on behalf of the students, Alhasan Nasir, thanked the government for the programme and assured that they would study hard and serve good ambassadors of the state and the country while studying in Egypt.
