Governor Zulum’s Uncommon Magnanimity

Davidson Iriekpen

For Dr. Lu’ubatu Aliyu, her joy knew no bounds when God sent an angel, in the person of Borno State Governor, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, to her rescue.

Aliyu was among 23 students awarded scholarship to study medicine by the Isa Yuguda administration in Bauchi State in 2012. Four years after she finished her studies at Ain Shams University in Cairo, Egypt, she didn’t have anything to show for all her efforts.

Her trouble started when upon graduation there was no news on how to offset her unpaid fees of US$8,000 because the succeeding government in the state did not meet her financial obligations. For this reason, her certificate was withheld by the university. She was completely shattered, despondent and devastated.

Luckily for her, last October, by divine intervention, Governor Zulum intervened on his trip to Egypt. Even though the governor’s trip to Egypt had nothing to do with the student as he was in Cairo to enter agreements with institutions towards ongoing construction of a new teaching hospital in Maiduguri, he could not ignore the case when it was brought brought to his attention.

The Charge d’Affaires, of the Nigerian Embassy in Cairo, Mr Bashir Ibrahim Ma’Aji, who explained what transpired, said that succour came the way of Dr. Aliyu when the governor came to Cairo on official assignment last October, and in his usual and causal discussion with him, he asked him about the challenges Nigerian students were facing in the Arab Republic of Egypt.

The envoy said he quickly seized the opportunity to inform the governor about the plight of Dr Lu’ubatu Aliyu, who had graduated and passed her medical studies in Egypt but could not get her result due to financial difficulties and also the failure of her sponsor. He added that instantly, the governor agreed to offset Aliyu’s fees.

According to him, “Aliyu completed her studies about four years ago, but due to the challenges from her sponsor, she had to leave the certificate for about four years. And luckily for us, last October, Zulum was in Cairo on official assignment. And in our usual discussion with him, he asked us about the challenges Nigerian students faced in the Arab Republic of Egypt. We appealed to him to come to the rescue of Dr Lu’ubatu Aliyu, who has graduated and passed her medical studies in Egypt but could not get her result due to financial difficulties and also the failure of her sponsor.

“The governor graciously accepted the appeal of the embassy and sent us a total sum of $8,000 to facilitate the collection of her result,” Ma’Aji said.

Last Tuesday in Abuja, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, ceremonially presented Dr Aliyu with her degree certificate. The presentation, which was done in the presence of Ma’Aji, saw encomiums being poured on Governor Zulum for his magnanimity.

The minister said resolving the certificate issues of Aliyu highlighted the very positive things that Nigerian embassies, missions and diplomats were doing to assist distressed Nigerians in foreign countries. He also said the situation showed her level of determination as she persevered notwithstanding the difficult challenges that she faced.

“So, here, we have a Nigerian sister of ours who had some difficulties getting her certificate and the embassy was able to be proactive. We extend our gratitude to Zulum, for his very timely and very generous intervention to help the Nigerian Embassy to address the situation,” Onyeama said.

“So, we also commend you for not giving up and it is a thing of great joy that you have been able to get this degree certificate from Ain Shams University, a reputable university in Egypt,” Onyeama said.

On her part, Dr. Aliyu expressed gratitude to God and appreciated the Nigerian Embassy and Gov. Zulum for the assistance in ensuring she became a certified medical doctor.

“Alhamdulillah! I will like to thank His Excellency, Governor Zulum. Your Excellency, thank you very much. Today, you have stopped the entire waiting for my collection of certificate, the MBBS certificate.

“I really appreciate what you did to me and I will never forget this effort Sir. I pray the Almighty Allah to restore peace in Borno and the entire nation, Nigeria,” Aliyu said.