One thousand secondary school students have been offered full scholarships by Mr Bem Mngutyo, a member of the Benue House of Assembly.
Mngutyo, who represents Tarka constituency, told newsmen on Friday in Makurdi that the move was to ensure that no child’s ambition was truncated by poverty.
“The scholarships will run up to higher institutions for those brilliant enough to score good grades and secure admission into tertiary institutions,” he said.
Mngutyo, who chairs the House Committee on Information and Communication, said that 1000 widows had been enrolled into a free healthcare services scheme he was sponsoring in his constituency.
He said that he had established an entrepreneurship centre for skills acquisition where 1000 youths were being trained in various skills.
“The centre is raising artisans and providing a platform through which hidden talents are being discovered and given the needed exposure to excel,” he said.
He said that the centre had instructors on woodworks, beads, soap and detergents making, and tailoring.
The lawmaker said that his constituency would soon have a cassava processing plant, a groundnut oil plant and a palm oil processing firm to ease the tedious task of manual production of the items and also create jobs.