As part of its social responsibility function and measures to immortalize the late Major General Charles Bebeye Ndiomu, the Foundation set up in the name of the top military chief, has awarded scholarships to children of some of the deceased rank and file of the Nigerian Armed Forces.

According to the Trustees of the Foundation, the awards were given to children of the deceased to promote access to quality education by all in an environment where international best practice is standard.

Managing Director of Vetiva Trustees Limited, Mrs. Ifeoma Udom, trustee manager for the Foundation, explained that the programme, introduced during the Armed Forces Remembrance Day of 2014 has been consistently undertaken every year.
Udom said: “This year’s edition of the scholarship award process received an even stronger field of worthy recipients and, in keeping with the Foundation’s aim of assisting as many qualifying students as possible in their academic pursuit, this year we will be awarding 17 scholarships, as against 11 in 2015 and 9 in 2014”.

In addition, she noted as part of the achievements of the Scheme, the fact that “9 of the 17 scholarships are being awarded to returning awardees, a good number of whom have presented significantly improved school results than they did in previous years”, while expressing the Foundation’s fervent aspirations to continue to maintain sustained growth for the Scheme both in terms of number of recipients and reach across the Nation.
She further explained that the Scheme is particularly aimed at giving back to the families of deceased Armed Forces personnel who lost their lives in the service of the nation, by awarding scholarships to children of such families yearly, stating that the selection process for the scholarship award was transparent and based solely on academic excellence, thereby making scholarships available to desiring applicants who are children of deceased Armed Forces personnel with excellent academic records.

In his remarks, Brig. Gen. B. S. Ipinyomi revealed that the deceased Army General was his commandant at the Nigerian Military School, Zaria, and described him as a highly disciplined gentleman who stood for excellence.

He further stated that the Nigerian Education Corp would be pleased to continue to be associated with the Charles Bebeye Ndiomu Foundation in its ongoing and future initiatives.

Commenting on the awards, Mrs. Waliat Abdulsalam, widow of late Lt. Cpl. Salami Hakeem, who has three of her children as recipients, expressed deep and heartfelt appreciation to the Foundation for its continuous commitment to the plight of families like hers, explaining that she cried tears of joy upon first receiving the news of the award. She prayed God to grant the Foundation the grace to wax even stronger.