One of the issues trending in the social media platforms is the recent news of protest by some Zamfara indigenes studying at the University of Sudan over alleged non payment of their hostel rent by the State government and poor payment of 100 dollars per month for their upkeep which they alleged to be too small for their monthly needs in Sudan. The video footage circulating the social media have generated mixed reactions over how genuine is the allegation. To discuss the issue Thunder Blowers Online News Medium has hosted the Special Adviser to Zamfara State Governor on Scholarship and Student matters Lukuman Bisallah Majidadi as well as the Chief Consultant engaged by the State Alh Jazuli Musa to offer some clarification on the whole scenario.
Negative Reports have recently been trending over the status of Zamfara students studying in Sudan, is the state government aware?
We are aware because we caught up with the video footage trending on the social media platforms just like anyone else did but we cannot make any official comment for now because none of the protesting students has intimated us about the situation or even written to inform us of the development.
So we are waiting to hear from our actual students with their official complaints so that we can establish the true picture of what transpired and for us as a government to chart the way out if the situation is actually true.
What is the sponsorship arrangement with the students in Sudan?
The arrangement is simple, the Governor gave us approval to engage those children of the poor who have the basic minimum requirement to study medicine and nursing and we worked in partnership with the consultant appointed by the state government and came up with simple modalities. We prepared examination for them and screened them. About 1000 candidates applied, we didn’t know any of them and we screened them based on the guidelines provided by the consultant. Luckily enough however, we used some resource persons from the Federal University, Gusau to conduct the exercise and arrive at the present position.
I could remember the Governor intimated myself and the consultant to be fair, just and avoid engaging the children of influential persons in the state and as a directorate, we neither participated in the exercise nor recommended any person to the consultant or the committee that was engaged.
Have you reached out to the protesting students?
We followed all the possible ways to reach out to the students so that we can hear from them directly but our efforts failed. We called many of them severally and also sent text messages but they refused to pick or reply and we used all other alternative communication channels but the students were not willing to talk to us..
Why do you think it is becoming difficult for the government to reach out to these students it sent out for study?
I don’t know but I sensed there may be political instigation and I guess some politicians from the opposition block may be using them to sabotage the programme but we are digging deep and we shall find out the actual reasons.
But it is most unfortunate that, these students are paying us back in a very un-ceremonial manners and this is the least we anticipated from them but like I said at the beginning of our interview you cannot underrate human beings. We are very surprised but we have anticipated this because we are under democracy, any form of sabotage can come up at any point in time.
Are you saying politics is playing into this recent development involving our students in Sudan?
Of course there is politics in this issue and like I told you those we are suspecting to be behind this ugly development were the people from the opposition who have failed to pay for those students they sent during their own time. When we were searching for the admission for these students we met a debt of about 70,000,000 naira at the Sudan University and we pldged to pay off the loan.
We believe, if we can finance each student studying in Sudan with 10,000 dollars annually and also spend 8,000 dollars on each student studying nursing annually, imagine how much is spent by the government as an investment for human resource in the state. So if someone wants to play politics it should not be played with giant achievement like this one.
What is the next line of action?
The next line of action is to continue to tap from the available links we have to understand the reality of what is happening in Sudan. We cannot fold our hands and allow things to continue the way they are. We will await their reaction on us, our agent in Sudan has been very clear with us that nobody is evicted from his home and all students under his supervision are doing well and like I told you we have paid the annual tuition fees for all the students as well
as accommodation allowances for all of them so we believe as a government we don’t have any issue with all of them but if they feel there is, let them communicate to us so that we can find out the real situation and act accordingly.
as accommodation allowances for all of them so we believe as a government we don’t have any issue with all of them but if they feel there is, let them communicate to us so that we can find out the real situation and act accordingly.
They were alleging that, 100 dollar is not enough for their monthly upkeep in Sudan how true is this?
I assure you as a consultant I have children who are studying in Sudan and believe me, there are those that cannot spend up to 100 dollars per month and this is the fact of the matter. But like I said, people can be funny enough to say what they want without thinking of the implication of what they are saying.
As consultant to the state government what I have given the state is the best and no reasonable student can protest that 100 dollars per month cannot keep him comfortably in Sudan. But let us wait patiently and hear from them.
Are the parents of these students in touch with you?
None of the parents or relations of any of the students contacted myself or anybody from my staffers. I believe if truly they have issues, they should have communicated to their parents and I am sure the parents would have contacted us. But like I told you, we are waiting for them to respond so that we can look at the situation and act accordingly.
Have you contacted those students on similar scholarship of the state and studying in other countries to avert such protests by Zamfara students?
We have contacted those in India and Cyprus and they have confirmed to us that, they are doing well and that they don’t have any issue. Like I told you, politics is playing very well in this issue of Sudan protest.
When I saw the video I looked at the pictures in that video but I could not recognize any one of them. Believe me, I doubt if the protesting students are those ones we sent, because virtually I know all of them.
One of the aides of former Governor Yari was quoted to have called on the Nigerian embassy in Sudan to wade into the matter before the students would be frustrated further, have you also intimated the embassy as a government?
It has not reached to that level and believe me, that same Governor’s aide is not fit enough to even talk on this issue because his principal has failed to do the right thing when they were in power.
Again if he wants to play politics with it, let him and his principal come back to Zamfara and play it alongside the people. He should not stay all the way in Abuja and start talking senselessly. We believe we are doing the right thing and no opposition should derail us again.
