Dangote Foundation today made a scholarship donation of N20 million to James Hope College Agbor, in Delta State in what the Dangote Group said is in keeping with its quest to contribute to the development of education in the country.

The scholarship is to cover the selected indigent students’ school fees all through the secondary school years.

Presenting the donation at the school premises in Agbor, the Chief Executive Officer of the Dangote Foundation, Zouera Youssoufou, said the issue of education is an area the foundation is interested in because it is central to the development of the society.

She explained that the foundation would continue to do all within its resources to help in the upliftment of education and health care standards, disclosing that the foundation has invested heavily in both sectors.

“Education is the key for future development of our youths and the society. Most countries of the world referred to as developed achieved the height because they placed premium on education,” Mrs. Youssoufou noted.

According to her, Dangote Foundation would continue to partner with groups and appropriate institutions to identify potentials among the disadvantaged students in secondary schools and help them develop their potentials through scholarship offers.

Mrs. Youssoufou said the issue of education and knowledge acquisition remains a core responsibility in the discharge of the corporate social responsibility of the foundation. “We have a common synergy with James Hope College in the area of education development of our youths and we hope that our efforts will encourage others to contribute their own quota to educational advancement of Nigerians and Nigeria,” she stated.

Chairman of the foundation, Aliko Dangote, had visited the school last year, during which he promised that his Foundation would extend its intervention to the school through scholarship offers.

Receiving the cheque on behalf of the school, the Principal, Mr. Abraham Swart, thanked the Dangote Foundation for the gesture, saying that it demonstrates the love Alhaji Dangote has for the less privileged in the society, especially in the area of education.

Mr. Swart said that the Dangote Foundation’s grant clearly demonstrates the key role the private sector can play working in partnership with government and other partners in the business of education to raise the standard of schools in Nigeria.

Amid applause from a cross section of the pupils who witnessed the presentation of the cheque, Mr. Swart promised that the school will make judicious use of the fund for the scholarship for the categories of the students for whom it is meant.

He clarified that the scholarship covers all fees payable by the beneficiaries throughout their six secondary school years, noting that the foundation’s donation would leave an indelible mark in the annals of the school.

While calling on other foundations and well-meaning Nigerians to intervene to raise the education standard in the country, the principal said the school places emphasis on academic excellence and the ability of individual students.

News Express recalls that the Dangote Foundation had of recent stepped up its interventions in the areas of education and health care, in keeping with Aliko Dangote’s promise that Dangote Group would double its pan-African philanthropic activities. Along this line, Dangote Foundation late last year donated five fully equipped mobile clinics worth N100 million to five communities in Kenya to help in taking quality health care services to the grassroots in the country.

•Photo shows some students of James Hope College, Agbor, Delta State, displaying the cheque for the N20 million scholarship grant presented by Dangote Foundation . . . today in Asaba. In the middle is the CEO of Dangote Foundation, Mrs. Zouera Youssoufou.

Update news