Over 2,000 Benue varsity students benefitted from scholarships

Over 2,000 students of Benue State University, BSU, have benefited from various scholarship schemes of the institution. Outgoing Vice-Chancellor of BSU, Prof. Moses Kembe who made this known yesterday in a valedictory press conference in Makurdi said the scholarship scheme which was part of the success story of his tenure had helped to promote academic excellence in the institution. According to Prof. Kembe, on taking over the leadership of the institution in 2015, his administration introduced “different categories of scholarships besides the already existing ones sponsored by the Federal and State Governments, Individuals, and Corporate Organisations.
“Over 2,000 students have already benefited from the above-mentioned scholarship schemes,” he said. While lamenting the setback universities suffered as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Prof. Kembe stressed that his tenure as the 5th Vice-Chancellor had been eventful and filled with various accomplishments. He said “my tenure witnessed the expansion of the university’s carrying capacity from 4,655 to 7,134 students. We also developed and strengthened our undergraduate training programme which was 51 at the time I took over, to over 60 today. We also reviewed our postgraduate programmes.”
“Our Staff strength has been increased by 35 percent. From a strength of 522 when I assumed office we now have a staff strength of close to 700. The teacher/student ratio stood at 1 to 46 at the time I took over but now it is 1 to 37 which is in line with the provisions of the National Universities Commission, NUC.” Prof. Kembe who reeled out several of his other achievements in the last five years including the construction of a 288-bed space hostel as well as infrastructural and ICT developments identified funding as a major challenge of the university.