Gov. Nasir El-Rufa’i on Wednesday said the Kaduna State Government initiated the Kashim Ibrahim Fellowship to help widen the pool of future leaders from across the country.
El-Rufai made the remarks in Kaduna while welcoming 16 young Nigerians selected from 10 states for the third cohort of the Fellowship.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Fellowship seeks to develop and nurture young people from across the country to develop leadership skills and enable them hold responsibilities in all facets of life.
The governor said that the Fellowship participants were selected strictly based on merit, noting that the process“demonstrated that merit can be an enabler of diversity.’’
El-Rufai advised them to utilise the opportunity to excel during the one year programme, adding that they should strive to surpass the standards set by the first two sets of the Kashim Ibrahim Fellowship.
“The two earlier cohorts 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.’’
El-Rufai reiterated the state government belief in the nation’s young people, saying he had appointed many young persons and given them challenging responsibilities.
The 16 Fellows are Albert Kure, Bernice Abeku, Omolara Daniel, Didam Laah, Zahara’u Yunusa, Victoria Dogo Rahila Ibrahim-Ahmad and Tolulope Adetunji.The rest are Mahmud Abdullahi, Oyinkasola Odidi, Zaliha Lawal, Uchenna Nkwonta, Hamisu Adamu-Dandaje, Shamsudeen Magaji, Muhammed Mubatrak-Abdulkarim and Abiodun Buari.
