Kwankwasiyya Students: The making of an international personality “International” is defined by Wikipedia, - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International - to mean things which are “involving more than a single country.” It is very obvious now that Kwankwasiyya is synonymous to international. Therefore, pardon me if you find me herewith using both words interchangeably. It all started around early February 2012 when the Great Governor of Kano, Engnr. Dr. Muhammad Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso had the intuitive initiative to send the brilliant Kano students abroad, for them to further their studies in various fields of academic endeavors. The idea which was hitherto described as “political gimmicks” by many commentators within and outside the country has never been thought or dreamt to be close to reality. Thousands of students were called forward to submit copies of their credentials for screening. Most of us submitted not because we trusted what was said, but because we were desperate. We answered many of such kind of calls in order to satisfy our ego of knowing and realizing Nigeria as a failed state. It was a common thing among the teaming unemployed youths to count many unsuccessful interviews they attended. It is better for you to attend in order to add to your frustration than to stay and die without putting any effort. I remember, when I told some of my friends about the issue, they were very skeptical and indifferent about it. I never take things for granted, especially when I know I am qualified. That was how and why I submitted my documents and encouraged many to do the same, not because I trusted the government but to have even a subtle reason, to challenge the government whenever I had the chance. However, to our surprise, most of us were regularly called and contacted after our first submission of our documents, something that was new to us. Most of such projects start and die on almost the same day of their inauguration. They are forgotten on the very day when masses are gathered to witness their launching. They die instantly. Nothing will be heard about them anymore, most especially when it comes to the children of the masses. Nobody cares. Who will sponsor an ordinary common son of a poor man, no matter how brilliant he is, to study abroad? What they care is to inaugurate something, gather money, show off, make students to suffer and even die in the process and they finally loot the money. It is normal and very common in Nigeria. To our surprise, we were called to verify, confirm and attest to what we submitted our documents for. We were asked to get international passports – a first step of becoming “international”. It was a new development to almost all of us. Very few of us have confidence in what was to happen and I was not included in such. Kwankwaso proved us all wrong. He did what was unthinkable and unimaginable. Nobody ever dreamt of that. Children of the masses, most of whom did not even vote for him, were selected on merit, no political maneuver, no chuwa-chuwa and no PDP! Everything was based on merit. The very day we left Nigeria was the day when most of the students’ perception changed – from local perception to an international perception. Today Kwankwasiyya students are all over the world. We are here in over 15 countries around the globe, specializing in almost all fields of studies. There are students who were sent to Malaysia, Jordan, Dubai, China, Saudi Arabia, Cyprus, Turkey, India, Uganda, Niger, UK, Poland, Sudan, Ukraine, Egypt and many other places around the world. Let me divert a little to talk about who are these students? They are the children of nobody. They are the children of the talakawas. The children of the commoners. The students sent were only selected because they were best students of Kano state. They were selected based on merit. All of them got the honorable degree class of 1.1 or 2.1. In other words, they possess either first class or second class upper as their class of various degrees. These students are very brilliants. Indeed extra brilliants! There are many of them that obtain other international recognition academically and intellectually, beside their former local recognitions. Now these Kwankwasiyya students are everywhere in the world. They cut across different fields of studies such as; languages and linguistics, medicine, pharmacy, technology, sciences, arts, social sciences and all fields of studies. All these students are now international students. They are highly regarded with great respect. They possess all the qualities of international students and more. They mingle and intermingle with various people around the globe. Some of them had already gotten jobs, certificates, awards etc, from their respective universities. Booking and boarding a plane to them is now like boarding a taxi cab. This is why they are seriously advocating and working hard towards Kwankwasiyya Airline, which will be airlifting all Nigerians to the true color of the world. Writing in international journals is now their collective aspiration. They are no longer local champions. Whatever they do, they do it in an international way. They met that Nigeria’s reputation has already been black painted by other Nigerians almost everywhere in the world. Nigerians are drug pushers, Nigerians are scammers and Nigerians are known to be notorious fraudsters, the world renowned Yahoo boys. However, these Kwanwkasiyya students are entirely different. You hardly find one who smokes. Wherever they go, after some days people come to ask them again and again: “are you really from Nigeria?” They answer yes, “we are from Nigeria, from Kano and we are the Kwankwasonians. We aim high in our lives towards uplifting the standard of living of our country. We are humble and just. We don’t cheat, we don’t harbor any form of corrupt practice. And we are not corrupt in any way. We are truly Kwankwasonians who never engage in any form of criminality. These are part of what make an individual an international personality. Although there are various atrocities found at the international level but at least one has to show some respect to the rule of law, follow rules and regulation and be an intellectual, before they allow him to be in and relate. All the Kwankwasiyya Students are now on facebook, on twitter, on youtube and everywhere on the net. Our names are now on google. Our researches and papers are published in international journals. International lecturers compete to supervise us. They really need to work with the hardworking Kwankwasiyya Nigerians. They like us and they appreciate our intellectual capability. We have groups: kwankwasiyya Student forums: https://facebook/groups/kwankwasiyyastudents/ where we relate to each other. We respect one another. We read and we research and publish papers. With respect to universities, we are not in any kind of substandard university. For example, my university is among the top 200 hundred universities. We are admitted into the top ranking universities in the world. Before this time, we didn’t know anything about any ranking. We have friends from all over the world, from UK, US, China, Germany, Malaysia, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Sudan, Pakistan, Iran, Singapore and everywhere. When we speak, people now listen. They appreciate the composition of Nigeria. They cherish our attitude and they recognize us as best of human beings in the world. It is not easy to become an international personality because your thinking has to surpass that of ordinary people who harbor ill towards one another. I foresee a good future for the Kano state and Nigeria in general. These international intellectual personalities are working hard to boost and uplift the image of Nigeria in the eyes of the world. Our “black painted” image will soon be white and colorful. We say thank to the Great and Good Governor. We are solidly behind you and we will do everything we can to develop our state and the country. We remain the good ambassadors of our dear country which is now being shattered by ineptitude and injustice. We are solidly behind anyone who will bring justice, equality, peace and harmony, health care facilities, education and support the welfare of the masses, as we see here in the foreign lands. We thank you, and we thank all the Nigerian people. Muhammad Sulaiman Abdullahi University Malaya, Malaysia. muhammadunfagge@yahoo
Posted on: Wed, 24 Sep 2014 22:41:40 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015