By Abba Anwar
It is indeed neither a satire nor a fiction, that His Excellency the Deputy Senate President, who doubles as the First Deputy Speaker of ECOWAS Parliament (Economic Community of West African States), Distinguished Senator Barau I. Jibrin CFR, not only excels, he becomes a pace setter in the all-important area of education of our people.
He takes a centrestage in developing our youth to become self-independent for genuine development of our dear state, Kano, through education, education and education. And the nation in general. Records are there across all our tertiary institutions of higher learning in Kano.
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Go to Bayero University, Kano, Ahmad Bello University, Zaria, University of Lagos, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, University of Ibadan, Federal University, Dutsinma,University of Nigeria, Nsukka, among others. Not to talk of some foreign institutions, as he, just recently, sponsored 70 students to go for their postgraduate studies.
He believes education is always the key, for unlocking opportunities and for unchaining the chains of modern day mental slavery and brain dysfunction.
There are two thousand (2,000) students from Kano North, HE Barau’s constituency, who are enjoying full scholarship from Barau Ibrahim Jibrin Foundation (BIJF). These beneficiaries are all enrolled for undergraduate courses in Federal University, Dutsinma (FUDMA).
He once paused a while and extended another One Thousand students (1,000) screened from Kano Central and Kano South, for undergraduate studies also in FUDMA. They were given full scholarship to study different fields, for their respective individual development and national development.
It was the added one thousand students that were recently at Dutsinma, who attended Matriculation ceremony. At the event, DSP sent a very powerful delegation, that included, his Chief of Staff, Prof. Muhammad Ibn Abdallah, Managing Director of North West Development Commission, Prof Shehu Abdullahi Ma’aji and DSP’s Special Adviser on Women Affairs, Yardada Maikano Bichi, one of his closest Aides, Hon Shitu Madaki, among others.
In another recent event in Bayero University, Kano, there were One Thousand (1,000) beneficiaries of Barau Foundation who were called upon to be recognize officially and awarded with the DSP’s full scholarship of more than Eight Hundred Thousand Naira (N800,000) to each of them.
All the 1,000 students at the BUK event, were from Kano North Senatorial District. His primary constituency.
At BUK event, the Deputy Senate President was ably represented by Senator representing Kano South, Abdurrahman Kawu Sumaila, one of his closest Aides, Shitu Madaki was also there. When Senator Sumaila, assured all the beneficiaries that, it was the intent of Senator Jibrin to empower our youth attain the height of their life.
Not only that, this calculative and harmless Senator, makes it one of his cardinal endeavors, the provision of full scholarship to all students from his Zone, Kano North, undergoing their undergraduate studies across all tertiary institutions within Kano state. I learned from a reliable source that, after BUK’s event that took place, similar events will come forward, starting with Northwest University, Kano.
I’m yet to see an individual politician, not only from Kano, but from the entire North West zone, who prioritizes and behaves with unwavering conviction, the education of our people, than His Excellency, the Deputy Senate President. I did not come across such an element. I stand firmly to be corrected. We need records and physical events to prove any argument against mine.
Few months back, the Silent Achiever, the great DSP, sponsored Three Hundred (300) students for postgraduate studies across Nigerian universities. Even in the programme of studies, my reader will begin to understand, how focused, refined and strategic is the Distinguished Senator. I mentioned some of the universities above.
Fields of study for those 300 students, included, not limited to, Artifical Intelligence, Robotics Technology, Cybersecurity, Data Science, Information Technology, Software Engineering, Exploration, Hydrogeology and Environmental Geology, Oil and Gas Operations, Applied Geophysics, Climate Change Management, Metallurgical and Material Engineering, Mechatronics and Intelligence Systems.
Before now, Seventy (70) Postgraduate students were sponsored with foreign scholarships by the quiet and well behaved Senator. Whose quiteness energizes his calmness to behave noiselessly. All the foreign scholarship students, left few months a go. Their screening and their trip were all covered by the media. Yours is just to go and search the cloud.
The Senator’s intervention in education, always reminds me of what the former Military Administrator, Colonel Sani Bello, did to education in the state. When he established our Science Secondary schools of Dawakin Tofa and Dawakin Kudu. Over 70 percent of our refined Doctors and Engineers are products of that initiative.
Bello did it as a government. As time passes by, when education gets minimal attention from governments, individual efforts become necessary and desirable. This is the gap our Senator comes to fill.
Since then to date, I do not see an individual effort towards the development of education, injected into our people, as what DSP is doing. Yes I said and individual effort. I’m yet to witness one. I stand firmly to be corrected. I always ask for records and physical events.
All what I said above can be verified via search engines like Google or Chatgpt. Or one can communicate to all the institutions I mentioned. His, is real, live and direct.
In the next few years, Kano will be dancing with, what I term, Barau Scholars. All the beneficiaries come from all backgrounds, different political parties, not to talk of intra – party camps and all sections of Kano state. For attaching importance to education, I see in Barau, what I saw and heard in Bello and former Governor of old Kano State, Muhammad Abubakar Rimi, when it comes to education development.
Anwar writes from Kano
Friday, 26th September, 2025
