Beneficiaries of Deputy Senate President’s foreign scholarship depart Nigeria

About 70 beneficiaries of Deputy Senate President, Senator Barau Jibrin‘s foreign scholarship scheme departed Mallam Aminu International Airport, Kano, on Sunday for their postgraduate programs in India.

The students, who are first-class products from various fields of endeavor, were selected to pursue their second degrees abroad with full sponsorship provided by the Senate Deputy President.

Bidding the beneficiaries farewell, the DSP said the initiative was born out of concern for the development of education in the northern region of Nigeria.

The senator representing Kano North senatorial district explained that the gesture was part of a strong step to address the setbacks faced by the northern part of the country.

Senator Jibrin, concerned about the large proportion of the youth population who lack the privilege to enroll in formal education, added that the initiative was meant to assist those who could not pursue their dreams due to financial constraints.

He reiterated his commitment to complementing the federal government’s efforts on education and out-of-school children in Northern Nigeria.

“Well, you all know, we all know as a country that one of the areas where we have a problem in terms of educating our youth is the northwestern part of this country. We have a youth population, which is an asset to us, but our problem is that they are not well-educated. And I feel that our number one problem, our number one solution to our problems, is educating our youth.

“And we understand the importance of human capital. It’s key to the development of every nation. It’s in this regard that I feel the best thing to do is to begin to educate, help, or complement what President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is doing in terms of giving access to indigent students, particularly the indigent part of our youth.

“You know that there are different policies of the government, particularly the NEL Fund, the student loan scheme, which is helping to educate our youth as we speak. The president is doing very well in this regard. And the fact is that the issue of education anywhere in the world is not something that rests on the shoulders of the government alone.

“It doesn’t rest on the shoulders of the government alone. It’s an all-inclusive kind of effort. Governments, religious bodies, private individuals, high-net-worth individuals, and so on and so forth.

“That’s why I decided on my own to get into this initiative of sponsoring our students, those who do not have the wherewithal to get trained appropriately, especially in the areas that are really needed in our contemporary world.

“Areas like artificial intelligence, forensic science, software engineering, and so on and so forth. That’s why I decided to identify these students who are from different parts of the region so that they can go and further their education in these very important areas.

“And my thinking is that they may not come back and start looking for jobs. Those who have been able to secure employment, fine. But the focus is for them to be self-employed.”

The Deputy Senate President had, on September 9, 2024, offered admission letters to the beneficiaries—65 males and five females from the three senatorial districts—to pursue postgraduate degrees in Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, and Robotics Science in reputable institutions of higher learning abroad.