Governor Nasiru El-Rufai of Kaduna State has promised to sponsor a 13-year old almajiri (Usman’s) education up to the university level. He said this in a tweet monitored by Verity News Online.com in response to an earlier tweet about the boy by Muhd El-Bonga Ibrahim who brought the boy’s case to limelight.
Muhd El-Bonga @el_bonga had twitted the story of the 13-year old Usman who helps his brother polish and repair shoes, with the above picture. El-Bonga wrote: “This is 13-year old Usman, an Almajiri boy from Maiduguri. Because he doesn’t like to beg, he learnt how to shine and repair shoes from his brother where he earns an average of N500 a day. When I asked him about school, he said: ‘even if I want to school, no one will sponsor me’”, Usman said.
About an hour later, Governor El-Rufai responded with his tweet and with his pledge to help the boy. “Where is this industrious boy? Kindly bring him to me in Kaduna. I will sponsor him to attend a boarding primary school and upon completion until he graduates from university by the Grace of God”.
In a jiffy, El-Bongo, at the instance of the governor established contact with the boy’s parents. He wrote “At the request of the governor of Kaduna state @elrufai, I was able to establish contact with Usman’s mallam. The Mallam promised to reach out to Usman’s parents and get back to me soon. It is also noteworthy to state that I spoke with someone from Borno state government”, he announced in another tweet.
