The Adebisi Fabiyi Foundation has awarded 60 students of tertiary institutions in Omu-Aran, Kwara State bursaries for 2015, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

The N1.2million award was an increase compared to the 2014 edition totalling N1million for the same number of students.

The chairman, Award Planning Committee, Dr Atoyebi Atolagbe, at the presentation of the 16th edition of the scheme, commended Prophet Fabiyi, the award financier, for his foresight.

He said Fabiyi's award scheme had tremendously impacted on the lives of many indigent students in Omu-Aran.

Atolagbe said the scheme's selection process had no religious, ethnic or political colouration, adding that academic competition among schools in Omu-Aran was the major criterion.

According to him, the scheme has the chances of growing bigger to accommodate an enlarged number of beneficiaries in the years ahead.

In his remarks, the initiator of the foundation, Prophet Fabiyi, said the ceremony coincided with his 83rd birthday celebration.

He said his philosophy had been anchored on reduction of illiteracy in the society through the award of bursaries to indigent but brilliant students of tertiary institutions.

Also speaking, the president of Omu-Aran Development Association (ODA), Chief Peter Oyinloye, lauded Fabiyi's initiative aimed at promoting educational development in Omu-Aran.

"In the last 16 years, he has given scholarship and bursary awards to more than 1,500 indigent students within the community. "Through his effort, many doctors, engineers, lawyers and other professionals had been produced for the society," he said.