DELTA STATE BURSARY PAYMENT : A FACADE AND UNDERMINING OF GOV.OKOWA’S PROSPERITY AGENDA

Odigiri Ween Bela

Several months ago His Excellency Sen Dr Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa in a State Executive Council approved the sum of four hundred million naira only (N400, 000,000) for the immediate commencement of the long overdue payment of Delta State 2013/2014 but till now the ongoing payment of the said Delta State 2013/2014 bursary is still a charade.

In all the schools that the so called charade payment was done, over 65% of students in those respective schools who are truly supposed to benefit from the bursary were skimmed out for obnoxious reasons even when they applied and eligible to receive the Delta state 2013/2014 bursary. In all the campuses/schools where this charade payment was carried out, the students are so embittered by the modus operandi of the payment and are calling on the governor to investigate this broad day scam because they believe they have the requirements to be beneficiary of the bursary but yet they were not paid.

However, this broad day light scam should never be swept under the carpet because these students paid N300 respectively for the application cards not to talk of stress encountered on the course of purchasing it which even led to some persons collapsing in respective places and yet they were skimmed out of benefiting from bursary that they are eligible for in all ramifications.

Moreover, this is not the prosperity agenda that H.E Dr Okowa promised Deltans rather there seems to be persons undermining the governor by not ensuring the proper disbursement of the released #400M for the payment of the bursary. From grapevine, it was also gathered that the so called charade payment was orchestrated by non release of the said approved N400M and the Delta State Scholarship board claims that the charade payment on going is being funded with the Finance that’s available on the board. So the questions begging for answers are;

Where is the N400M??
Who is deceiving who?
Who will now take the hit?
Who is undermining the prosperity agenda?
Will Okowa keep to his word of curbing incompetence and corruptions bedeviling the bursary issue by ensuring those circumventing Delta students who are rightly supposed to benefit from the bursary are brought to book?

For how long will the supposed beneficiaries that are duly eligible but were skimmed out obnoxiously wait for it to be rectified?

Should they take to the order of mandamus or continue to wait till kingdom come?
Enough is enough, let the government stop this fraud now and pay us our bursary with immediate effect because what is ongoing is best termed a CHARADE OR BURSARY DANCE OF SHAME.