Goodness Thomas, house help on scholarship list

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… Sponsor shun ‘aso ebi’ to send them to school
Miss Goodness Shekwobyalo Thomas the young lady involved in the now famous admission brouhaha with the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria but matriculated at Igbinedion University was just one of the sixty-two beneficiaries of the full scholarship of the Bini Princess who chose to still remain anonymous.
Investigations also show that a former house help, who ran away from her employers, because she was not allowed to go to school, is also one of those who matriculated Saturday is also on her list. She is the only student who is on N25,000:00 stipend per month apart from free tuition, accommodation and books given to the entire 62 students from her stable that matriculated.
Although a breakdown of the statistics of the students was not available, we learnt that the Bini Princess normally gives out 100 scholarships every year, twenty-eight of them graduated last June from Igbinedion University but pressures from several quarters shot the number to sixty-two.
Impeccable sources told us that 21 of the students were from the Bini Princess’ alma mata, St. Maria Goreti Secondary School, Benin. Igbinedion University Bursar, Mr. Nosa Edogiewere, who should have supplied the statistics was said to have traveled to Benin from Okada town after the matriculation ceremony Saturday morning.
When contacted Saturday night, The Bini princess who was grinning like a school girl with excitement said she had to forgo buying ‘aso ebi,’ a uniform common among Yorubas for social events to empower the students especially confirmed orphans. We reported that we had to pass through some verification  before Miss Goodness could make her list.
“Reverend, I am so excited that God is using me to affect the destiny of these young ones for good. I am giving out what I could not get from them. I am so happy,” she said with broad smiles after a query of my disturbing her with why she does not want to be made public ; we told her that her late father was a great editor at the Daily Times Plc., in the late 1960s/70s.
She  explained her choice of private universities where she sends her wards to stating that such institutions “enhances studies, stimulates scholarship and encourage even the laggards among students” unlike public universities where strikes were becoming norms of academic processing.
The Bini princess came into the picture when Rev. Eniola Olatunji’s social media publication on Miss Goodness and Ahmadu Bello University went viral as her offer helped Miss Goodness to matriculate in her course of Choice, Medicine and Surgery, putting to rest the admission Bruhaha.
However, the case looks unfinished as the Niger State Commissioner for Education has summoned parents of Goodness, Mr. Elijah Thomas and his wife, Gloria, to a meeting with Niger State officials next week.
Mr. Thomas landed at the Abuja Airport at about 1900 hours of Saturday from Pilgrimage and was not available for the meeting called by the Registrar of JAMB, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, last Tuesday with some stakeholders where ABU was directed to offer his child admission for medicine and surgery.
-ENIOLA OLATUNJI.

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