TheCable

Nasir el-Rufai, governor of Kaduna, says his administration initiated the Kashim Ibrahim fellowship programme to nurture future leaders.

The programme is named after the minister of social services in the 1950s.

Speaking at the induction of the third cohort of the fellowship on Wednesday, el-Rufai said the state government created a platform for young people because it believes in them.

The 16 new fellows were formally welcomed into the programme after spending two weeks in quarantine.

The governor said the one-year programme is opened to youth across the country.

“[It] is now in your hands to make the most of the opportunities this one-year programme will offer you,” he said.

“[The earlier cohorts have] 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.

“We have appointed many young persons and given them challenging responsibilities. We initiated the Kashim Ibrahim fellowship to help widen the pool of young persons whose leadership ability we can help develop and nurture.”

The 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 Mubatrak Abdulkarim and Abiodun Buari.