The member representing Omala State Constituency in the Kogi State House of Assembly, Hon. Umar Yahaya (Connect), has fulfilled his pledge to reward academic excellence by awarding a ₦1 million scholarship to the best-performing candidate from his Free JAMB Scholarship Programme.
The beneficiary, Benjamin Alefia Josiah, emerged as the highest scorer among participants from the constituency and has since secured admission to study Medicine and Surgery at the Confluence University of Science and Technology (CUSTECH), Osara.
The scholarship award was presented amid commendations from community leaders, parents and youths, who described the gesture as a timely investment in the future of Omala and a morale booster for students aspiring to excel academically despite prevailing economic challenges.
Speaking on the initiative, Hon. Yahaya reiterated that the programme was deliberately designed to identify, encourage and support brilliant but indigent students across the constituency.
“This is about keeping faith with our young people. When you encourage excellence, you inspire a generation to dream beyond limitations,” the lawmaker said, stressing that education remains the bedrock of sustainable development.
Constituents noted that the Free JAMB Scholarship Programme, which enabled hundreds of students to sit for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) without financial burden, has already begun to yield tangible results, with Benjamin’s success standing as a symbol of what targeted support can achieve.
The lawmaker’s latest intervention, observers say, further reinforces his growing reputation for prioritising education, youth empowerment and human capital development, even as calls mount for the expansion of such initiatives to reach more beneficiaries in subsequent years.
Parents and stakeholders in Omala urged other political office holders to emulate the gesture, describing it as a practical demonstration of people-centred leadership.
Hon. Yahaya, however, assured that the scholarship award would not be a one-off intervention, noting that more education-focused programmes are in the pipeline as part of his broader development agenda for the constituency.
