By Nkechinyere Ewa-Okpara
In alignment with Governor Francis Nwifuru’s education policy, the Executive Chairman of Ishielu Local Government Area, Mrs. Ifeoma Peace Agwu, on Monday flagged off the 2025 bursary payment for students of the council.
The initiative, which coincided with her one year in office, has drawn widespread commendations from stakeholders.
The flag-off ceremony, held at the council headquarters in Ezillo, had in attendance the governor’s Special Assistant on Students’ Affairs, Comrade Joshua Nwafor, who represented Governor Nwifuru.
Applauding the chairman, Nwafor described the bursary scheme as a complement to the governor’s ongoing reforms in the education sector. He recalled that Governor Nwifuru had previously disbursed over ₦171 million to 172 students and awarded more than 1,000 scholarships across the 171 wards of the state.
“It is only in Ishielu that a council chairman has taken this bold step, and it is even more remarkable that it is a woman leading this charge,” Nwafor said, urging other council chairmen to emulate her.
In her anniversary address, Mrs. Agwu reeled out her administration’s achievements in key sectors including peace-building, infrastructure, healthcare, agriculture, security, and social welfare. She cited the peaceful resolution of boundary disputes, recognition of traditional rulers, construction of rural roads, installation of boreholes and solar-powered streetlights, establishment of a health centre in Obuchiru, and renovation of the council headquarters.
On social intervention, she noted financial support to widows and victims of the Afor Ezillo fire incident, as well as the execution of medical outreach programmes.
Highlighting her efforts in education, Mrs. Agwu announced scholarship and bursary schemes alongside the facilitation of civil service employment for over 200 indigenes of Ishielu. She further donated ₦1 million to students at the event to cushion transportation costs, while urging them to acquire voter’s cards and participate actively in governance.
Stakeholders, including her aide on Youth Mobilisation, Stephen Chinonso Egbe, lauded her one-year performance, describing it as “outstanding” and a model for grassroots leadership in Ebonyi State.
Similarly, the National Association of Ishielu Students (NAIS), led by its National President, Comrade Chinedu Elijah Igwe, hailed the official flag-off of the bursary and school fee support programme, pledging the group’s support for her administration’s initiatives.