Dutsin-ma, Katsina State (Nigeria): A philanthropic foundation, Lado Development Foundation (LDF), under the leadership of Sen. Yakubu Lado-Danmarke,has paid the registration fees for 17,888 students enrolled in tertiary institutions across Katsina State, offering a major boost to access and retention in higher education.
The Secretary of the foundation, Muhammad Gali-Salisu, disclosed that the Federal University Dutsin-ma (FUDMA) was involved while screening some of the beneficiaries on Saturday.
“The foundation is actively working across several key sectors of education, health and empowerment to improve the lives of people in Katsina State.
“In education, the foundation sponsored students from secondary schools up to tertiary institutions, to enable them to pursue their education.
“This year, we visited institutions like Usmanu Danfodio University Sokoto, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Federal College of Education Zaria, Federal College of Education, Katsina, Umaru Musa Yar’adua University Katsina, among others.
“We paid registration fees for NECO to 4,707 4, 176 to JAMB candidates, 3,313 NCE students, 206 ND, and university, first degree up to PhD, we paid 5,487.
“So, from January 2025 to date, a total of 17,888 students have benefited from the LDF support in education,” he said.
Gali-Salisu added that under the health sector, the foundation had visited 50 health facilities and provided financial assistance to over 5,873 patients.
“We don’t discriminate among students; we pay for all irrespective of political party affiliation.
“Whenever a student printed his/her remita and presented it to us, we paid whatever amount was indicated there,” he said
The Secretary stated that the payment for the programme and course varied, ranging from N25,000 for NCE and ND to N42,000 for degree programmes at the university level, and N235,000 for PhD in English Language, Islamic Studies, and other courses.
Some of the beneficiaries interviewed, including Sagir Sani, an undergraduate student studying Sociology, said that the foundation paid N52,000 as his registration fee.
On her part, Maryam Usman, MSc. Economics commended the foundation for settling her N166,000 registration fees.
