Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti, OFR has held a Banquet for the 50 successful beneficiaries of the 2025/2026 session of the Alex Otti Undergraduate Scholarship Programme.
The programme was instituted by the Alex Otti Foundation for brilliant undergraduate students from less-privileged homes across the country and has been running for about 10 years now.
Speaking during the Scholarship Banquet organised for the beneficiaries by the foundation in Umuahia, the founder of the Foundation, Governor Alex Otti noted that the programme has been running for the past 10 years.
Governor Otti said that the programme is founded on excellence and transparency, noting that all one needs to do is to apply through the portal, write tests, and followed by oral interviews.
He noted that graduates of the scholarship programme are all doing well in their chosen careers across the globe.
The Governor clarified that the foundation is not a political movement or a pro-group, pointing out that the foundation is open to all brilliant undergraduate students in institutions of higher learning, irrespective of State of origin and political leaning.
“It’s a programme that is founded on excellence and transparency. So, the process starts with applying through the portal, writing tests, and then oral interviews. By the time we are done, we will pick from number one to where we end it.
“We don’t jump anyone, so, that you know somebody doesn’t matter, you don’t know anybody doesn’t matter. I’m happy to say that we have consistently done it and there hasn’t been any report of any hanky-panky or any corruption.
“The people who run the recruitment process are also not known to us, but we know their reputation.
“This is not a political programme. You can belong to any political party you want. You can vote for whoever you want.
“Once you merit it, you get it. My charge to you is that you continue in that spirit, continue to work hard, continue to make your parents and the Alex Otti Foundation proud,” Gov. Otti stated.
Governor Otti used the forum to present a dummy cheque to the management of the foundation for onward disbursement of two hundred and fifty thousand naira to each of the beneficiary, saying that the gesture would continue every year until their graduation.
He congratulated them on the feat achieved and for being inducted into the Alex Otti Scholars.
In a keynote address, the Rector, Ogbonnaya Onu Polytechnic, Aba, Dr. Engr. Christopher Okoro charged the beneficiaries not to see education as just for learning or enhancement of knowledge, but also as the fulcrum for a responsive leadership.
Dr. Okoro who spoke on the theme; “Quality Education as Fulcrum for Building Responsive and Effective Leadership” said that the essence of education is to develop morals, skills, critical thinkers as well as become useful in society, describing responsive leadership as a product of qualitative education.
He described responsive leadership as a resource of deliberate investment in human capital through qualitative education and thanked the founder and Governor of the State, Dr. Alex Otti for setting up the foundation which has continued to provide opportunities for students from less-privileged homes to be counted.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Executive Secretary, Alex Otti Foundation, Mr. Chidiebere Nnanna while thanking Governor Alex Otti for providing the undergraduate students the platform to navigate the 21st-century career paths, urged the students to see the gesture as a springboard to greatness and positive impact.
Expressing their heartfelt gratitude, some of the beneficiaries including Mr. Godwin Ndubuisi and Miss Chinyere Chijioke appreciated the foundation for the life opportunity extended to them, noting that the gesture has lifted the huge financial burden off the shoulders of their parents and guardians, who most times pass through sleepless nights to pay their fees and upkeep.
The event was attended by senior Government appointees and guardians of the beneficiaries.
Ctz. UKOHA, NJOKU UKOHA
Chief Press Secretary to the Executive Governor of Abia State.
26 – 09 – 2025.
