Zulum donates N10 million for undergraduate’s kidney transplant

Borno State Governor, Professor Babagana Zulum has approved the release of N10 million for the kidney transplant of a 300 level student of geography at the University of Maiduguri,

The life of the student, Mbahi Suleiman, 29-year old may be lost if a surgery is not effected as he is in critical need of kidney transplant. 

Suleiman hails from Yara in Hawul local government area, in Borno South.

The governor got to know of the student’s condition after one of his aides drew his attention to Suleiman’s condition. He and his mother had appeared on a radio programme, seeking for support.

Suleiman and his mother were featured on multiple times on Brekete family, a morning programme on Human Rights Radio in Abuja, hosted by Ahmed Isa, popularly called ‘Ordinary President’, with direct appeal to Governor Zulum to save Bitrus. 

The family, who said there is a donor in waiting for Suleiman, had sought for N9 million for the transplant, a million naira short of the approval by the governor.

According to a statement by the governor’s spokesman, Mallam Isa Gusau, on Tuesday, January 12, the family’s appeal was brought to Zulum’s attention by his media team, following which the Governor directed the immediate release of N10 million to fund the transplant. Whereas the family needed N9 million,

He said the additional N1 million was approved for any case of unforeseen circumstance.  

After the money was delivered to the family, the mother of the student, Saratu Bitrus showed up on Wednesday on Brekete family programme with her son, and confirmed on air, that she had received bank alert of N10m as directed by the governor.

She equally said payments have been made to a hospital in Abuja, which is to undertake the transplant scheduled to hold this week. 

Speaking with tears of joy, the patient, Sulaiman told audience that he was the one that saw the deposit alert of N10 million on his mother’s phone. 

He narrated that: “Yesterday (Tuesday) my mother gave me her phone to show me a deposit of five thousand naira that someone had made to her account and while I was going through that, I suddenly saw an incoming deposit and it was N10 million. I became shocked and showed my mum, we all knelt down in disbelieve and started crying. Later on, an aide to the governor called to ask if we had received the alert and we confirmed it. I do not know what to say to my Governor. Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, I can only wish that God blesses him and make him greater than he is, nothing I say can show the extent of what I feel about that intervention to save my life. I am currently survive on dialysis until I undergo a transplant.”

The governor had in his attempt at addressing kidney disease in the state, sometimes in December 2019 directed the Borno State Specialist Hospital in Maiduguri to commence offering free dialysis to all patients in the state who were hitherto paying so much for weekly dialysis on which people with kidney failures survived on. 

Governor Zulum had also directed the state ministry of higher education, science and technology to in collaboration with the state ministry of health fund a research to find the causes of rampant cases of kidney failures in some parts of Borno State. The ministry had subsequently placed adverts inviting scientists for the research, with investigations still ongoing.