JOSHUA OCHEJA writes that the partnership between ASR Africa and KHAIRUN has given many a platform
What is the best gift a parent can bequeath a child? It is usually an emotional nightmare for parents whose children cannot compete favourably in society due to a lack of education. Public tertiary institutions are reasonably affordable. But it is relative, and not all households can afford it. This article tells the story of an organisation doing something differently to solve a problem by creating a path, instead of quick fixes. To donate a book to a school is one thing, to donate a book and teach the child how to read it is another thing. This is the story of ASR Africa in its 500 students’ scholarship initiative for outstanding indigent students from Kano and other parts of the country in a tertiary institution called KHAIRUN.
KHAIRUN is Khalifa Isyaku Rabiu University. It is an upscale private university in Kano State. It is a creation of the Khalifa Isyaku Rabiu Education Foundation, in honour of the late Khalifa Sheikh Isyaku Rabiu, an offspring of the Sheikh Muhammad Rabiu dynasty of Kano State, and father of Alhaji Abdul Samad Rabiu.
ASR Africa is the Abdul Samad Rabiu initiative for Africa with an annual grant of $100 million for interventions in health, education, and social development. ASR Africa stands on a strong podium created by serial entrepreneur Abdul Samad Rabiu, the founder of the BUA Group. According to him, the idea behind ASR Africa is a “deep-rooted commitment to fostering substantial progress across the African continent.”
In 2024, ASR Africa published an advertorial offering a full tertiary education scholarship for low-income families across the country at KHAIRUN. It appeared too good to be true. According to available statistics gathered, over 1,000 students applied and 500 students, on the dot, got admitted under a 60% female and 40% male ratio. 100 students were from Kano and 400 from other parts of the country. They are all presently in their second year, studying various courses such as cybersecurity, software engineering, mathematics, physics with electronics, nursing science, forensic science, radiography, and computer, electrical, and mechanical engineering.
Fauziyyah is 19 years old, and the first child in a family of four. She gained admission to the University of Abuja to study nursing after her mother, Fatima, decided, out of faith, to see her through. After her first year, there was no way for her to continue her studies. Fatima, who has raised her four children alone through her petty trade of shoe and bag making, took a step of faith without any tangible or sustainable income to back her desire to ensure that her daughter attained a university education.
Fauziyyah is an Arabic name that means successful woman. But the road looked bleak for the young girl at some point until the ASR Africa door opened. Sometimes our names carry meanings and sometimes they work for us. Today, she is studying radiography at KHAIRUN on ASR Africa’s bill. She is just one of 500 students whose stories carry real weight, made possible by an organisation that chose to do things differently, one that went beyond providing succour to creating a platform for indigent students to turn their hopes and aspirations into tangible realities.
The ASR Africa scholarship initiative at KHAIRUN can pass for a bouncing trampoline that recipients can use to leap to greater heights. In trampoline aerobics, how high you bounce depends on the pressure you apply, not just the flexibility of the bands. That is the difference between this and other scholarship initiatives: the recipients have been given the platform they lacked, but the end result depends on their own commitment to changing their life trajectory.
According to Dr Ubon Udoh, the CEO of ASR Africa, “the initiative is a deliberate intervention on a value and merit-based platform, born from the founder’s deep commitment to creating opportunities for the next generation of African minds, regardless of their perceived status in society.” The takeaway from his statement is the desire to create opportunities. Then I ask: opportunities for whom, and why? Who are the beneficiaries of the scholarship programme? What is their social status? And why the emphasis on them? I found part of the answer after browsing the ASR Africa website. Under its “How It Began” page, the prose read: “This initiative is a beacon of hope, spearheading a new era of philanthropy that aims to build a more prosperous future for Africa.” And that was not all. It went on to state: “It strives to make an empowered Africa a reality. This is more than a promise. It is our mission at ASR Africa.”
The story of ASR Africa is that of chance and opportunity. What do I mean? It is the point when potential meets opening. By “chance”, I mean the vast pool of brilliant minds across our society whose progress is halted by the accident of economic circumstance. By “opportunity”, I mean the deliberate creation of a level playing field. When an initiative provides the vehicle, chance ceases to be a limitation because the doors of potential are opened.
KHAIRUN has the capacity to help ASR Africa turn enhanced career paths for indigent students into reality. There are three lessons here: the first is the availability of a platform; the second is identifying those who need it; and the third is placing them on the pedestal that not only builds hope but translates it into tangible reality.
My take on the ASR Africa and KHAIRUN partnership is: when the story of the 500 ASR Africa beneficiaries at KHAIRUN is told in the future, it will indeed be a story of when chance met opportunity. It may never make the front-page headlines of daily newspapers, but it is already a headline story for 19-year-old Fauziyyah and 499 others. Their journey marks a quiet revolution that is primed to transform the impossible into the possible, and the possible into the inevitable, and in a way explains the phrase “when preparation meets opportunity, success is inevitable.” This is the story of Fauziyyah, ASR Africa, and KHAIRUN. It is a story of hope when all seemed lost, and tears turned to joy for 500 families.
The ASR Africa partnership with KHAIRUN is strategic philanthropy. It is investing in potential. And one last thing: I had the privilege of speaking with Fauziyyah. In a quiet voice, she said, “I want to make my mother proud for all her sacrifices.” Those words came from a deep place. I can only wish her and the 499 others the very best in their educational pursuit. The partnership between ASR Africa and KHAIRUN has given them the platform; what they build on it is now theirs to determine.
Ocheja holds dual PhDs: Military History from the Nigerian Defence Academy, and Leadership and Public Policy from the University of Abuja.