The Ondo State Government has earmarked N400m to support 13,360 indigenes of the state enrolled in tertiary institutions across the country under its 2026 bursary, scholarship and financial assistance programme.
Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa announced the intervention on Tuesday during its launch at the Cocoa Conference Centre, Governor’s Office, Alagbaka, Akure, saying the beneficiaries cut across five categories, including 11,907 bursary recipients, 614 scholarship beneficiaries, 239 Law School students, 500 medical students on clinical training and 100 physically challenged students.
Aiyedatiwa said the initiative was intended to cushion the financial burden on students and prevent lack of funds from disrupting the education of deserving indigenes, stressing that human capital development remained central to his administration’s “OUR EASE” agenda.
Beyond the financial intervention, the governor said his administration was expanding access to technology through its Digital Literacy Programme, under which students in 50 public schools would receive tablets.
He added that 500 basic schools were also listed for construction or rehabilitation under the 2026 budget.
The governor disclosed that plans were also underway to strengthen specialised education in the state, including the establishment of Colleges of Nursing in Igbokoda and Education in Aboto, while the government had begun moves to convert Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, into the proposed University of Agriculture, Science and Technology, Owo.
The Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Prof. Igbekele Ajibefun, said the administration had separately released N633.918m to cover 2026 WASSCE registration fees for students in public secondary schools.
He added that the government had approved the implementation of the new salary structure agreed between the Federal Government and unions in the state’s tertiary institutions.
Also, the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Scholarship, Samad Orijeminiyi, disclosed that the government was exploring the development of a mobile application that would serve as a central database for Ondo students studying in tertiary institutions nationwide and improve the verification and administration of scholarship beneficiaries.
As part of the intervention, Aiyedatiwa approved a scholarship for the son of the late former student leader, Comrade Mary Ogunga, who died in July before taking her final Bar examination.
The governor also directed that the child be included in the state’s bursary programme despite not being a tertiary institution student yet.
