The Kaduna state government initiated the Kashim Ibrahim Fellowship to help widen the pool of young persons whose leadership ability it can help develop and nurture, Governor Nasir el-Rufai has said.
Speaking in Kaduna on Wednesday, while welcoming 16 new fellows, el-Rufai challenged the third cohort of the Fellows to give their best in every facet of the programme.
He said they were, “selected by merit from a pool of many applicants from across Nigeria, in a process that demonstrated that merit can be an enabler of diversity.’’
El-Rufai advised the Fellows who are from 10 states, that “your success is now in your hands to make the most of the opportunities this one-year programme will offer you.’’
The new Fellows were formally welcomed into the programme after spending two weeks in quarantine and online induction activities.
The governor challenged them to live up to the standards set by the first two sets of the Kashim Ibrahim Fellowship.
“The two earlier cohorts have amply justified the hopes we invested in them, giving a good account of themselves in the MDAs to which they were posted, demonstrating intellectual acuity in their training programmes and showing a commitment to the public good.
“Jemimah Jatau, who emerged as the best of the first set of fellows, has resumed at the Harvard Kennedy School for a master’s programme, on full scholarship from the Kaduna state government. The best Fellow from the second set has also been awarded a full post-graduate scholarship. We have no doubt that you, the members of the third cohort of the fellowship, will live up to these standards and sustain the tradition,’’ he added.
El-Rufai reiterated that Kaduna state government believes in the nation’s young people and that is why it has invested in creating platforms and opportunities for them.
The 16 new Fellows are Albert Kure, Bernice Abeku, Omolara Daniel, Didam Laah, Zahara’u Yunusa, Victoria Dogo and Tolulope Adetunji.
Others are Rahila Ibrahim Ahmad, Mahmud Abdullahi, Oyinkasola Odidi, Zaliha Lawal, Uchenna Nkwonta, Hamisu Adamu Dandaje, Shamsudeen Magaji, Muhammed Mubarak Abdulkarim and Abiodun Buari.
