As I write, about 300 fresh undergraduates are receiving life changing full university scholarship courtesy of Senator Saliu Mustapha, the senator representing the Kwara Central Senatorial District at the National Assembly. He started with 200 last year. This year, he decided to raise the bar. In total about ₦300 million committed to what economists call human capital. Full scholarships from first level until graduation. No half measures. Full!
This is not the sort of announcement our politics is accustomed to. When a politician wants quick applause, he buys rams during Sallah or sprays money in a crowd. But paying school fees for four to five years, even six, in an era when university costs jump every session like fuel prices at a filling station, that is a different kind of venture entirely.
People have combed through the history of Kwara State seeking parallels to this gesture. They are still searching. It has never happened before, not at this scale. Anyone insisting otherwise should kindly step forward with facts instead of grumbling from a distance. Even at the national level, the only near-comparison is the Kano State government’s scholarship tradition started during the administration of former Governor Musa Kwankwaso and now his successor, Abba Yusuf.
Yet the true essence of the story is not monetary. It is written in the private lives this scheme has already redirected, the most instructive being that of one Abdulaziz Abdullah Alata, a young and brillant chap who lost his dad and the family breadwinner barely two weeks ago to the cold hand of death. But for the Turaki’s scholarship scheme, Abdullah would have lost the chance to a qualitative unversity education.
The story is also true of Uthman Roheemat Gbemisola who secured admissions to the University of Ilorin for two consecutive times but lost them due to unavailability of funds by the parents. Her case got so bad that a public spirited individual, Mallam Tunji Idris had to start a crowdfunding for her until she secured the Turaki’s scholarship. These are the kind of inspiring stories that soround the scholarship scheme.
When this programme started last year, many thought it was a political gimmick. After all, election season is a fertile period for unexpected generosity in Nigeria. But when the first batch crossed into second year and the fees were paid again, people began to adjust their lenses. Now, with the number of beneficiaries rising from 200 to 300 instead of shrinking, it is clear that this is not random benevolence. It is a deliberate policy of investment by Senator Saliu Mustapha, an attempt to pull young people out of the quicksand of helplessness and place them on the ladder of aspiration.
The moral lesson here is simple, though not always convenient. If God gives a person the privilege of wealth or public office, there are only two dignified ways to use it: build things that last or build people that will outlast you. It is not enough to throw money around for feel-good optics and social media clout as we’re witnessing lately especially in Kwara state. The real question should always be: after the shouting dies down, what is the impact?
In a decade, these scholarship beneficiaries will still be around. They will be engineers, lecturers, doctors, bankers, entrepreneurs, pharmacists, scientists and perhaps, future policymakers. Their success will not require camera crews nor party rallies, it will speak for itself. And when it speaks, it will say that somewhere in Kwara Central, one man chose to leave a legacy measured not by how loudly he spent, but by how meaningfully he invested.
There are many ways to be remembered in politics. Some steal, some spend lavishly, others simply just build slogans. But some, like the Turaki, build people. And the curious thing about building people is that it always lasts the longest.
So, to the Turaki, thanks for the ₦300 million well spent. Thanks for making the best of our collective patrimony. Even your fiercest critic will struggle to argue otherwise. God bless sir!
Khadijat Eyitanwa Lawal
Media Aide on broadcast Media to distinguished Senator Saliu Mustapha
(Senator representing Kwara central)
