By Bashir Bello
The Deputy President of the Senate and member representing Kano North Senatorial District, Senator Barau Jibrin, has stated that the people of Kano State are eagerly awaiting the opportunity to reciprocate the kind gesture of President Bola Tinubu by re-electing him in 2027.
This was, as he said, because President Tinubu had never turned down any request coming from the state.
The Senator stated this while announcing automatic scholarship to undergraduate students from his Kano North Senatorial district at the Yusuf Maitama Sule University of Education in Kano.
Barau recalled how he singlehandedly spearheaded the request for conversion of the institution from the Federal College of Education into a full-fledged university and later immortalization of the university after the late elder statesman, Yusuf Maitama Sule, following an earlier decision by the state government to remove the name of the elder statesman from the state-owned university, North West University.
He went ahead to narrate how the President had also granted approval for the upgrading of Kabo Polytechnic into a university, among other numerous requests taken to the President.
According to him, “I spearheaded the request to upgrade this institution to a full-fledged university. I’ve been fighting for 10 years to actualize my dream of ensuring that this institution becomes a full-fledged university. He (Tinubu) said, Is that what you’re asking for? He said, ‘That’s a done deal; I’m giving it to you.’ He said, It’s a done deal.
“So I’m here today to, on behalf of this great institution, on behalf of the entire student body of this institution, indeed the entire student body of Kano State and the parents, fathers and mothers of the students of Kano State, thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Mr. President, for your deep and immense happiness and joy in accepting the request to upgrade the College of Education to a full-fledged university.
“We have never asked Mr. President to do anything for us in Kano, and he has said no. Why shouldn’t we love Mr. President? Why shouldn’t we love Bola Ahmed? Why? Why? We have never gone to him and said, ‘Mr. President, we want this,’ and he said, ‘no.’ Whatever we asked him to do, he said, I’ll do it for you. When he gave his approval for the university’s upgrade, we thanked him.
“Then later, after some days, I went back again with a request in my pocket. Because we had one of the elder statesman from Kano State, late Yusuf Maitama Sule, who died some years ago. Everybody knew what he has done for our country and for our state. He was an assembly member. He was a commissioner. He was a minister of petroleum. He did everything. But yet, he had nothing when he died. And what could you do to that kind of person is to immortalize him. The former administration of Kano State, decided to name the Northwest university, after him, to immortalize him. But when the present government came to power, that was annulled. It was a painful thing done to that elder statesman who spent his life serving our nation, serving our people. So I was in pain. And I wrote a request that this university should be named after him, the late Yusuf Maitama Sule. I took the paper to the president. And I requested verbally. Before I could finish telling him my request. He said, I’m going to do it. Bring it, I will do it. I said, sir, I’m here with the request. And he minuted. So Mr. President, we also thank you for this. We can’t thank you enough. You’ve been doing everything for us. And we’re waiting for the time that we will reciprocate your gesture, your kindness to us,” the Deputy President of the Senate, Barau, said.
He, however, assured the Vice Chancellor of his readiness to support the institution at any time the need arises.
On his part, the Minister of State for Housing and Urban Development, Abdullahi Atta, said the federal government had earmarked the sum of N200 billion for the construction of light rail from Kaduna to Kano, as work would soon commence.
He also hinted that there are numerous projects in the pipeline within his ministry, for which the President gave Kano special consideration and advantage.
Earlier, the vice chancellor, Prof. Abdullahi Tukur Kadage, while expressing gratitude to the Deputy President of the Senate over the gesture, requested the allocation of land to further expand the institution.
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