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UK Govt Offers Chevening Scholarship To PWDs In Nigeria

Published

2 years ago

October 5, 2023

Editor

The British High Commission in Nigeria has offered the prestigious Chevening scholarship for the 2024/2025 academic year to some Persons Living With Disabilities(PWDs).

The gesture according to the commission is to guarantee fairness and equal access to education for all in line with international conventions.

Ms Gill Atkinson, Deputy Commissioner of British High Commission in Nigeria, announced this on Wednesday in Abuja during a presentation to showcase the Chevening Scholarship to some persons with disabilities and putting them through the application process.

Atkinson noted Chevening, is one of the best things done between the UK and Nigeria government to deepen its cooperation especially in the education sector and to foster PWDs inclusion in the society.

“Chevening is designed not to discriminate against any particular group of people but to give them the opportunities to study, meet their passions and bring those skills and experiences that they have discovered and developed back to Nigeria.

“The reason we are doing this is to help Nigeria’s brightest and best take their country forward. We really want to see young Nigerians equipped to move their country forward.

“The inclusion of persons with disabilities into the programmes is a way the UK government shows them that they are just like every other person with great abilities.

“Persons with disabilities cannot be left out because they also have a lot to impact on society which is why the inclusion,”Atkinson said.

Mrs Oluwafunmilayo Ladepo, Chevening Programme Officer in Nigeria, said the inclusion of persons with disability was also aimed at providing Nigeria with the positive impact they will bring to the country.

“We are not giving PWDs only because of their disabilities but because they have the ability that many have overlooked due to their disability.

“We have someone from the previous set who is a Journalist with Visual impairment who completed his Masters program and got an internship with BBC.

“This is because of his ability and intelligence and he will be back after his internship to contribute to the media.

“So this is the basic thing, partnering with Nigeria, to improve Nigeria and also to gain from Nigeria because if we have these people going, we are also having strong people coming back to build Nigeria.”

She noted that about forty seven persons with disabilities have benefitted from the programme since 2014 when the UK government started including Persons with Disabilities as beneficiaries.

She also urged as many others to apply for the 2024 session to the UK institutions listed on the Chevening site and ensure that they meet the deadline.

In his remarks, Mr James Lalu, Executive Secretary, National Commission for Persons with Disabilities and Dr Adebayo Adebukola, appreciated the U.K government for including Persons with Disabilities in the programme.

Adebukola said it is an opportunity which would be properly utilised, adding that he looks forward to more Persons with Disabilities benefitting.

“I am very happy for the detailed explanation which will guide Persons with Disabilities through the application process and what to expect in the UK.

“It is also an opportunity to learn from the UK and bring back to Nigeria and build our own country because the UK and other developed countries were built by their own people and not spirits.

“We need people to go there and learn and bring in policies that will help push for more inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in the Nigerian society”, Adebukola said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event also had Persons with Disabilities who have benefitted from previous Chevening Scholarship share their experiences, and give inspirations to others.

NAN also reports that the Chevening Scholarships are the UK government’s global scholarship programme, funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and partner organisations.

The scholarship is worth about £35,000 to £45,000 pounds per scholar which is about thirty five million naira.

The programme which has been in Nigeria since 1984 offers awards to outstanding scholars with leadership potential to study for a master’s degree in any subject at any UK university.

The UK Government had earlier awarded 44 Nigerians including Persons with Disabilities in the Chevening 2023/2024 cycle.

Headline

Welcome Home, Israel Confirms Return Of 20 Hostages From Gaza

Published

20 hours ago

October 13, 2025

Editor

Israel said that the last 20 living hostages released by Hamas on Monday had arrived in the country.

“Welcome home,” the foreign ministry wrote in a series of posts on X, hailing the return of Matan Angrest, Gali Berman, Ziv Berman, Elkana Bohbot, Rom Braslavski, Nimrod Cohen, David Cunio, Ariel Cunio, Evyatar David, Guy Gilboa Dalal, Maxim Herkin, Eitan Horn, Segev Kalfon, Bar Kuperstein, Omri Miran, Eitan Mor, Yosef Haim Ohana, Alon Ohel, Avinatan Or and Matan Zangauker.

AFP

Headline

20 Members Of Gang Blacklisted By US Escape Guatemala Prison

Published

23 hours ago

October 13, 2025

Editor

Twenty members of a gang designated a “foreign terrorist organisation” by the United States have escaped from detention in Guatemala, a prison chief said Sunday.

The members of the Barrio 18 gang “evaded security controls” at the Fraijanes II facility, prison director Ludin Godinez said at a news conference.

He received “an intelligence report” on Friday warning about the “possible escape” from the prison, which is southeast of the capital, Guatemala City.

Godinez said they were investigating possible acts of corruption.

Washington last month blacklisted Barrio 18, an El Salvador-based gang which has a reputation for violence and extortion, as part of its crackdown on drug trafficking.

The US embassy in Guatemala condemned the prison escape as “utterly unacceptable.”

“The United States designated members of this heinous group as the terrorists they are and will hold accountable anyone who has provided, provides, or decides to provide material support to these fugitives or other gang members,” the embassy said on X.

It called on the Guatemalan government to “act immediately and vigorously to recapture these terrorists.”

According to Interior Minister Francisco Jimenez, there are about 12,000 gang members and collaborators in Guatemala, while another 3,000 are in prison.

The country’s homicide rate has increased from 16.1 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2024 to 17.65 this year, more than double the world average, according to the Centre for National Economic Research.

According to the Salvadoran government, the gangs Barrio 18 and Mara Salvatrucha, better known as MS-13, are responsible for the deaths of about 200,000 people over three decades.

The two gangs once controlled an estimated 80 percent of El Salvador, which had one of the highest homicide rates in the world.

Headline

South Africa Bus Crash Kills 40 Including Malawi, Zimbabwe Nationals

Published

23 hours ago

October 13, 2025

Editor

At least 40 people, including nationals of Malawi and Zimbabwe, were killed when a passenger bus rolled down an embankment in South Africa, a provincial transport minister said Monday.

The bus travelling to Zimbabwe crashed around 90 kilometres (55 miles) from the border on Sunday after the driver apparently lost control, Limpopo province transport minister Violet Mathye said.

“They are still working on the scene, but 40 bodies have already been confirmed to date,” Mathye told the Newzroom Afrika channel. The dead included a 10-month-old girl, she said.

Thirty-eight people were in hospital and rescuers were searching for other victims, she told eNCA media.

The bus was travelling from the southern city of Gqeberha, around 1,500 kilometres away, and its passengers included Malawians and Zimbabweans who were working in South Africa. The crash may have been caused by driver fatigue or a mechanical fault, the minister said.

South Africa has a sophisticated and busy road network with a high rate of road deaths, blamed mostly on speeding, reckless driving and unroadworthy vehicles.

AFP