The Vice Chancellor of Bayero University Kano (BUK), Professor Haruna Musa, has called on politicians, business communities and stakeholders across Nigeria to emulate the educational empowerment initiative of the Deputy Senate President, Senator Barau Jibrin.
Professor Musa made the call recently during a scholarship award ceremony held at the University in Kano, where Senator Jibrin gave scholarship award letters to 1,000 beneficiaries from Kano South and Kano Central senatorial districts for full-time study at the Federal University Dutsin-Ma, Katsina State.
Speaking at the event, Professor Musa described the gesture as one that “will go a long way to empower youths with education,” emphasising that “there is no better empowerment than education which is also needed to prosper.”
The Vice Chancellor painted a concerning picture of Nigeria’s youth demographics, revealing that with a population of approximately 230 million, only about 30 percent of young people were currently in school or learning a trade.
He warned that this leaves a significant portion of youth unemployed, uneducated, and untrained – a situation he described as “causing serious danger and risks to our society.”
“Nigeria, particularly North-West Nigeria, is at the moment battling with a high rising population of youth needs,” Professor Musa stated, linking this challenge directly to the security and socio-economic development issues plaguing northern Nigeria, especially Kano State.
He stressed that insecurity bedeviling communities in the region was closely tied to the growing number of idle youth, thereby making educational initiatives like Senator Jibrin’s scholarship programme crucial for regional stability and development.
“I therefore want to urge all our politicians, business communities and indeed other stakeholders to emulate this kind of gesture by distinguished Senator Jibrin Barau, to join hands to help the youths,” Professor Musa appealed.
Earlier in opening remarks, the Chief of Staff to the Deputy Senate President, Prof. Mohammed Abdullah, revealed that Senator Barau has sponsored 70 students for postgraduate studies abroad in advanced fields like Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Forensic Sciences.
He added that 300 students have also been selected for various postgraduate programmes across six prestigious Nigerian universities, noting that, the initiatives demonstrate his commitment to advancing higher education and developing expertise in critical technological and scientific fields in Nigeria and outside of the country.
