Former First Lady of Delta State, Dame Edith Okowa and VC-UNIDEL, Prof Eric Eboh, with cross section of the 50 student beneficiaries of the 05 Foundation N10 million Students’ Assistance Programme on Wednesday
The former First Lady of Delta State and Chairperson of the O5 Foundation, Dame Edith Okowa, has announced the Foundation’s adoption of 50 students of the University of Delta, Agbor. The former First Lady announced this on Wednesday, September 16, 2026, in the Agbor Campus of the university while presenting cash assistance of N200,000 each to the 50 students under the O5 Foundation’s Student Assistance Programme.
According to Dame Okowa, the Foundation, which was established on June 1, 2015, was inspired by the biblical principle outlined in the Book of Matthew Chapter 25, verses 35-36, not as her pet project as a governor’s but as a life-time commitment to assist prison inmates, the sick and other less-privileged members of the society. She revealed that the Foundation has provided bore holes in all prison facilities and sponsored free sickle cell and eye care treatments across Delta State.
She emphasized that the Foundation has now expanded into assisting indigent students to alleviate the financial burden of pursuing higher education in Delta State. She pointed out that the Foundation will treat the 50 beneficiaries as adoptees because it will continue to support them with N200,000 yearly until they graduate and closely monitor their academic and social developments to ensure that they develop into individuals that will positively impact the society.
While welcoming the former First Lady to the university, the Vice Chancellor, Prof Eric Chiedum Eboh, thanked the O5 Foundation for the N10 million cash life-line to the 50 students of the institution and commended it for adopting credible and inclusive selection criteria. He thanked Dame Okowa for her show of love to the less-privileged students, which according to him, is in line with the letter “E” in university’s RAISE UNIDEL higher programme intended to create environment conducive for students to excel in all its ramifications.
The highlight of the ceremony was the presentation of cheques of N200,000 to each of the 50 beneficiaries drawn from different departments of the university. Responding on behalf of the beneficiaries, Mr Nelson Egbudu, a 300 Level student of Animal Science, thanked the O5 Foundation for the surprise package, describing it as perfectly timed because it came within 2 weeks of their resumption for the 2026/2027 Academic Session. He promised that each of them will put the N200,000 financial assistance to maximum use so as to encourage the O5 Foundation to continue to support indigent students in Delta State.
The ceremony was witnessed by the university’s Deputy Vice Chancellor, Prof Patrick Ijeh, representatives of the chairmen of Ika South and Ika North East Local Government Areas, senior officers of the university and members of the O5 Foundation.
Precious Armstrong, UNIDEL Press Crew, Deputy Vice Chancellor’s Office