Officials of Kwara State Ministry of Tertiary Education yesterday in Ilorin, the state capital, held a crucial meeting with the stakeholders to work out modalities for free transportation for workers and students of higher institutions in the state to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy withdrawal on the beneficiaries.
The state governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, had last week approved free bus palliatives for the workers and students of tertiary institutions in the state.
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The meeting had in attendance the Deans of Students Affairs of all public tertiary institutions in the state, representatives of Students’ Unions across the institutions, and representatives of the Kwara State Chapter of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS).
Addressing the stakeholders at the meeting, the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Tertiary Education, Hajiya Habibat Saidu, emphasised the goodwill of Governor AbdulRazaq’s administration on the student-community and Kwarans at large.
She charged stakeholders at various sectors to also complement government efforts on the palliatives for the students and workers of tertiary institutions in the state.
Saidu added that the interactive meeting was meant to embrace suggestions on how best to allocate the buses to strategic routes within the metropolis, in order to achieve the desired result.
The permanent secretary emphasised that the transportation palliative for staff and students of tertiary institutions is free of charge, pointing out that on no account must extortions be entertained.
She added that both staff and students would be allowed to benefit from the free bus ride with their institutions’ identification cards as means of identification.
On behalf of the students’ body, the chairman of the state chapter of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Comrade Yusuf AbdulGafar commended Governor AbdulRazaq for his kind gesture.
AbdulGafar, who praised the governor’s initiative, said the buses could be stationed at institutions in the rural areas to convey students within such rural communities.