Former Kano State Governor and national leader of the Kwankwasiyya Movement, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has revealed that he sold several personal items of property across Nigeria to personally fund foreign scholarships for hundreds of Kano youths after government sponsorship was discontinued.
Kwankwaso made the disclosure while addressing beneficiaries at the Kwankwasiyya Scholars Convention, where he reflected on the origins, impact and future direction of the scholarship programme run through the Kwankwasiyya Development Foundation.
“I realised I had properties I did not need—plots in Lagos, Kaduna, Sokoto, Adamawa and other places. I sold them and used the proceeds to sponsor 370 young men and women from Kano State to study abroad,” he said.
According to him, the decision followed the suspension of government-funded foreign scholarships after the 2019 general elections. He explained that he chose to personally sustain the programme rather than allow it to collapse.
Before the policy change, the scholarship initiative had sponsored over 3,000 students within four years to study in 14 countries across Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
Kwankwaso said the programme has since produced hundreds of medical doctors and specialists, scores of pilots and aviation professionals, thousands of engineers, ICT experts and technologists, as well as academics and researchers, including more than 300 PhD holders.
Beyond sponsorship, he noted that the foundation tracks beneficiaries, mentors them and integrates them into governance and public service to ensure their skills contribute directly to national development.
“That is why we decided to engage you politically—at ward, local government, state, zonal and, by the grace of God, national levels, for those who are interested,” he said.
He cautioned scholars against elitism, stressing that academic excellence should not detach them from grassroots service.
“It is not fair for someone with a PhD or master’s degree to feel too big to serve at the ward level,” Kwankwaso warned.
He commended Kano State Governor Abba Yusuf for appointing several beneficiaries of the programme into key government positions and expressed optimism that some of the scholars would eventually rise to become governors and even president.
Also speaking, Deputy Governor Aminu Gwarzo described the scheme as one of Nigeria’s most impactful human-capital development interventions, while the National President of the Kwankwasiyya Scholars Assembly, Dr Mansur Hassan, called it “the most unprecedented scholarship programme Nigeria has ever witnessed.”
Hassan added that several tertiary institutions across Kano and neighbouring states would face serious academic challenges without Kwankwasiyya scholars, noting that the convention featured award presentations, goodwill messages and testimonials from beneficiaries.
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