FROM PAID CHANTERS TO PURPOSEFUL LEADERSHIP: EIGHT YEARS OF CONSISTENT PROGRESS,THE ZASA STORY

 FROM PAID CHANTERS TO PURPOSEFUL LEADERSHIP: EIGHT YEARS OF CONSISTENT PROGRESS,THE ZASA STORY

By Tijjani Sarki

3rd January,2026

For years, the narrative around many Students’ Associations has been both predictable and painful. Bodies established to protect student welfare and advance collective development have, in many places, deteriorated into political guard units and propaganda machines for elected officials. Leaders mobilize students not around ideas or reforms, but around personalities. Funds meant for progress dissolve into private pockets, leaving behind disillusioned youths and hollow institutions.

It is against this troubling backdrop that the recent Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Zawaciki Students Association (ZASA) demands serious attention. What unfolded was not an isolated moment of brilliance, but the continuation of a progressive tradition ZASA has sustained for about eight years a rare consistency in an era of transactional student politics.

ZASA is an umbrella body comprising all students of tertiary institutions who are indigenes and residents of Zawaciki town.Thurdsdsy 1st January,2026 I attended the AGM both as a guest and an awardee, carrying with me the healthy skepticism borne out of years of observing student associations drift from purpose. Yet, what I witnessed reaffirmed that principled student leadership is still possible.

Leadership With Memory and Direction

In his farewell address, the outgoing President, Alhaji Usman Alhaji, did not resort to empty praise or defensive rhetoric. Instead, he presented a structured, verifiable account of his administration’s achievements over a two-year tenure an approach that reflects ZASA’s long-standing culture of accountability.

This culture has been nurtured through mentorship, notably by the Association’s Grand Patron, Professor M. B. Shittu of Bayero University Kano, a renowned Professor of Community Development. His guidance has helped ensure that youthful energy is not wasted on spectacle but invested in substance. The result is an association where young people remain disciplined, receptive to counsel, and committed to learning from elders an intergenerational partnership that has sustained ZASA’s developmental focus for nearly a decade.

Achievements as Evidence, Not Rhetoric

The 2024–2025 tenure stands as one of the strongest chapters in ZASA’s eight-year progressive journey.

 Under the outgoing leadership, the Association delivered concrete outcomes across education, empowerment, advocacy, and community service.

ZASA organized UTME (JAMB) lessons and CBT practice for 2024 and 2025 candidates, recording impressive results with many students scoring above the national benchmark of 200 and some as high as 298. The Association purchased UTME green cards and sponsored UTME registration, distributed polytechnic and Sa’adatu Rimi College of Education application forms, and re-enrolled dropout students back into school.

To remove poverty-related barriers, ZASA provided school and Islamiyya uniforms for students who could not attend classes. Through the Educational Support for Orphans and Vulnerable Children Project (ESOVCP), uniforms, books, and school bags were distributed to 50 orphans and less-privileged children, alongside the enrollment of out-of-school children.

Empowerment Beyond the Classroom

Infrastructure and learning environments were improved through the renovation of the ZASA  Sectariete (Fomerly TV Centre), borehole repair at Zawaciki Primary School, and repairs to damaged classroom doors. The Association also sustained voluntary teaching services at Government Girls Junior Secondary School (GGJSS) Zawaciki.

Skills and empowerment initiatives reached hundreds, digital skills training in web development and graphic design for over 300 students, Web Development 2.0, and hands-on vocational programs in phone repair, solar kit design and installation, electronics projects, satellite dish installation, and plastic recycling. Economic skills programs such as popcorn business training expanded livelihood options.

The Sana’a Sa’a vocational training program empowered 50 adolescent girls, while adult education classes for women (Matan Aure da ‘yan mata) were institutionalized on weekends, clear evidence of inclusive, community-rooted development.

Ideas, Environment, and Advocacy

ZASA’s civic and intellectual engagements included the Make Zawaciki Green campaign (with 250 trees planted and distributed), career guidance for SSS1 students, monthly motivational days, a spelling bee competition, excursions to the Kano Zoological Garden, Qur’anic Competition ( Musabaqat) and a one-month educational radio program, “Wannan Rayuwa,” on Dala FM.

On advocacy, ZASA followed up on the proposed closure of Government College Zawaciki, successfully halting the process though part of the school was later demolished. 

This tradition was reinforced at the AGM when Professor M. B. Shittu raised alarm over reported encroachment on Government College  Zawaciki by suspected land grabbers, urging the Ward Head and community elders to act decisively to protect public education assets.

A STATEMENT OF HOPE AND A CALL TO ACTION

Beyond its local impact, ZASA offers something Nigeria desperately needs today, hope. Hope that student leadership can still be principled. Hope that youth platforms can resist capture by political interests. Hope that consistency, mentorship, and accountability can outlive individual tenures.

It is therefore imperative that Students’ Associations across the country reflect deeply and emulate the ZASA model, a model anchored on service, transparency, continuity, and community relevance. Student unions must return to their original mandate, defending student interests, investing in human capital, and serving as nurseries for ethical leadership, not as recruitment centers for political mercenaries.

Eight Years as a Rebuttal to Failure

What distinguishes ZASA is not a single successful tenure, but eight years of continuity in progressive action. From weekly forums and Sallah outreach to academic interventions, skills development, and principled advocacy, each administration has built on the last resisting the lure of political patronage that has reduced many student bodies to hired crowds.

As a new leadership emerges, the charge is clear, protect the legacy, deepen the impact, and resist compromise. ZASA has shown that student unionism can still be a school of leadership, accountability, and service.

Tijjani Sarki

Good Governance Advocate and Public Policy Analyst

Wrote From Zawaciki