Two female secondary school leavers in Abia, Miss. Nmesomachi Alugwe and Miss. Gift Onwukwe, have emerged winners of the scholarship for the 2022/2023 Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) examinations.
The beneficiaries Miss. Nmesomachi Alugwe studied at Holy Rosary Secondary school, Umuahia North while Miss. Gift Onwukwe studied at Ubakala Secondary school, Umuahia South LGA respectively.
The scholarship, known as the ICAN-Accounting Technician Scheme (ATS) Scholarship Award, is sponsored by the Umuahia chapter of the Society of Women Accountants of Nigeria (SWAN), which is the women’s wing of ICAN.
The Chairperson of the group, Mrs. Ogechukwu Onyeonoro, presented the awards to the beneficiaries at a brief ceremony in Umuahia on Sunday.
In a speech, Onyeonoro said the scholarship was initiated to assist indigent and brilliant female secondary school leavers with the bias for accounting. “This was to fulfill my promise during my investiture as the pioneer chairperson of SWAN in Umuahia.
“I promised at that ceremony that my leadership would give ATS scholarship to two indigent and brilliant female secondary school leavers in Umuahia,” she said. She said the two girls emerged through a transparent process that included written examination and oral interviews.
Onyeonoro explained that the scholarship entailed enrolling the beneficiaries for tutorials for the three stages of ICAN examinations, beginning from March 2022 to March 2023. “I urge you to be diligent and focused in your studies so you can excel in the exams and move to the professional level in the shortest time possible,” she said.
She also advised them not to take the opportunity for granted “because there are many other persons, who are looking for this kind of intervention, Onyeonoro said, while admonishing their parents to give them the necessary encouragement during their examinations and probation.
Responding, the two winners thanked the association for remembering the indigent persons in society and promised to utilise the opportunities. The event also featured a health talk on “stress management among women,” by the Government House Medical Officer, Dr. Ifeyinwa Uma-Kalu where she educated women to reduce their daily work load, relax, engage in regular physical exercise, ensure periodic medical checks among others.
