Rotary District 9111 Awards Scholarships to Low‑Income Students

Rotary International District 9111, operating under the District Educational and Welfare Endowment Fund (DEWEF), will award a N10.2 million bursary fund to 51 indigent undergraduates chosen from universities and polytechnics in Ogun and Lagos States.

The presentation of the DEWEF scholarship cheques is scheduled for tomorrow, Tuesday, June 2 2026, at the Rotary Centre, Ikeja GRA, Lagos. The event will be presided over by District 9111 Governor Prince Henry Akinyele.

Each of the 51 students will receive N200,000 to help cover school fees, a feeding allowance, and textbooks for the academic session.

Past District Governor Oluwanisomo Omoniyi, Chairman of the DEWEF Board of Trustees, spoke on behalf of Governor Akinyele and said, “each of the fifty‑one awardees will be given the money to defray academic expenses, payment of fees, feeding allowance and textbooks for a session.”

He added that recipients must maintain a cumulative average point grade of over 3.0 and are encouraged to join Rotaract Clubs at their campuses.

“They are encouraged to join Rotaract, the youth arm of Rotary, to imbibe the giving spirit of members of various Clubs, who out of their charitable nature contribute annually to give these scholarships,” he said.

Sulemon Adekunle Mufutau, Chairman of the DEWEF Scholarship Committee, explained the selection criteria: “We requested brilliant and indigent students in HND 1 and 200 levels from the 84 Clubs in District 9111. Sixty‑two candidates were presented, screened, and 30 were invited to take a computer‑based aptitude test (CBT) conducted by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC). Fifteen candidates passed the aptitude test and then underwent an oral interview. Eight new students qualified for the scholarships. These eight join the 43 students already receiving the scholarship, making a total of 51 students for this year’s award.”

“Aside from academic qualifications, we also ascertained their indigence, so we will give out the scholarships to those who truly qualify and deserve it,” he stated.

Mufutau added, “The DEWEF Fund was established by District 9110 (now Districts 9111 and 9112) in the 1991‑92 Rotary year to cater to needy and indigent students in tertiary institutions and to support the District’s intervention efforts on education.”

“The value of the scholarship used to be N100,000 but was increased to N200,000 per student last year because we felt that the initial amount was not commensurate with the current economic realities.”

“The purpose of the Rotary District 9111 DEWEF Scholarship is to help brilliant but poor indigent students in tertiary institutions in Lagos and Ogun States of Nigeria, to fund their education and provide for their welfare.”

“Rotarians have been voluntarily donating with a view to achieving the objective of this educational intervention initiative cause.”