Scholarship: No single beneficiary personally known to me – Barau

Nigeria’s Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Barau I Jibrin, has said none of the beneficiaries of his scholarship programme is known to him or related to any member of the organising committee.

Barau made this known during the flag off of the foreign Postgraduate Scholarship to 70 Kano state Indigenes to study in various countries of the world.

The Postgraduate scholarship students will study on ICT, Robotics science, Forensic Science, Artificial intelligence and Machine Learning as well as Cyber security.

Making the presentation of admissions in Kano North West Nigeria, Senator Barau Jibrin said, it is a testament to his commitment to Education to youths who are the pillars of development in every society.

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He said, “I equally congratulate the lucky beneficiaries of the scholarship scheme, none of whom is personally known to me or related to the organising committee members. It is imperative to note that this programme is designed to showcase our unwavering community to the educational development of our youth, who we consider as the pillars of societal development.

“At the Jibrin Foundation, we give pride of place to the overall development of the youth, who are responsible for reshaping and energizing our society. What we are doing is a demonstration of the hallmark of our political ideology aimed at building and empowering the youth to secure our future and society.

“Our joy is always to see that we are impacting the lives of the people positively, not necessarily because of political party or geographical affiliations but as a duty to humanity.”

He added that he is committed to continue to facilitate programmes and projects that will improve our people’s lives in all circumstances.

“The Foreign Scholarship programme has been designed as a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to identify and support the gifted and talented youth from across Kano State to acquire postgraduate degrees in carefully selected fields that will give them competitive advantage to contribute to the socio-economic development of Nigeria.”

“Certainly, the Government cannot do it alone; all hands must be on deck to reverse the ugly trends and decay in the educational sector. Finally, let me call on the beneficiaries of the scholarship scheme to make the best use of this opportunity and make us proud by coming back with flying colours at the end of your studies,” he said.

Also speaking, the Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman described Senator Jibrin as an ambassador of Education and a unique Politician whose contributions to the sector speaks volumes.

Represented by the Minister of state Education Yusuf Sununu, Professor Mamman commended the educational vision of Senator Jibrin designed to uplift the standard of the young people.

“It is delightful that, the Barau Jibrin Foundation is offering foreign scholarships to 70 young people to undertake foreign postgraduate studies in relevant fields of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning, Information Security and Cyber Forensic and Robotics Science.”

“This is a commendable initiative as it would build in the beneficiaries of critical thinking and equip them with the skills to become active players in the emerging world order – which is a fusion of advancements in the Physical, Digital and Biological sciences.”

The Minister noted that despite the good intentions and huge investments of the Nigerian Government in the education sector there are always gaps that require the active participation and contribution of Nigerians to drive the socio-economic development of society.

He called for a partnership of stakeholders at different levels particularly at this period of fast changing global realities and debilitating economic situation.

“I urge many more individual and corporate stakeholders to join and support the Government in developing our educational system for the good of all Nigerians, in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of this administration.”

Earlier, the Chief of staff to the Deputy Senate President Professor Mohammed Abdullahi said the foreign Postgraduate scholarship cut across Kano state and not the constituency of Senator Jibrin of Kano North.

He noted that the foreign scholarship will help in nurturing the students intellectual excellence and stimulating Growth.

Abdullah said the students will study in India, Canada, United States of America, among other foreign countries.

Others who spoke at the event extolled the good virtues of Senator Jibrin and gave cash donations in support of the students.

Of the 70 PG Foreign Scholarships, 65 males while 5 are females from three senatorial districts of Kano state.

Some of the students interviewed described it as a rare opportunity with a promise to be good ambassadors.