Kwara is still one of the few states where payment of bursary for students of tertiary institutions is not only irregular, but the amount paid is paltry and can hardly buy all the textbooks a student needs.

The last time bursary was paid students of Kwara State origin in tertiary institutions was in 2011, and it was arrears of the payment that should have been done in 2009. And the amount was N5,000 per student?

Worse still, there is no scholarship for students except for those in law school.

Bursary is meant to sustain students, if not for the whole session, at least for a considerable part of it. But with this paltry sum and considering the high cost of goods and services, how many textbooks can N5,000 buy in a session, not to talk of general sustenance of a student.

We have it on good authority that states like Lagos and Ondo pay as much as N50,000 per students, which is not only regular but also covers students at all levels.

If we factor in the fact that Lagos State has more students in tertiary institutions than Kwara, the situation becomes very embarrassing.

Granted that a state like Lagos with huge internally generated revenue has more funds to disburse to her students, how do we explain those of other northern states like Sokoto, Kebbi, Katsina, etc., where students in tertiary institutions are paid as much as N50,000 per session as bursary?

In the light of this, we implore the Kwara State Government to review our bursary allowance upwards, and to pay it regularly.