Sunday, October 11, 2026

Nigerian degree ‘just sheet of paper’, says Emir of Zazzau

“What we are lacking today is mentorship. You don’t have to be a professor to mentor people. We should try as much as possible to impact knowledge to those behind us.”

• December 1, 2022
A composite of Emir of Zazzau, Ahmad Bamali and girls in Quranic school used to illustrate the story
Emir of Zazzau, Ahmad Bamali and girls in Quranic school

The Emir of Zazzau, Ahmad Bamali, says Nigeria needs leaders that will groom Nigerian youths to be responsible future leaders, pointing out that a “degree is just a sheet of paper.” 

The emir disclosed this at a Women Models and Mentors Foundation (WMM) conference.

“What we are lacking today is mentorship. You don’t have to be a professor to mentor people. We should try as much as possible to impact knowledge to those behind us, especially those that require some tutelage and technical know-how,” said Mr Bamali. “Entrepreneurship is very key. I am passionate about it, especially when it is an issue that relates to women.”

He added, “I am one of those blessed people that have girls as my children. I have four girls and a boy, so I can say I am a father of girls. We are encouraging young girls to go into entrepreneurship, especially those graduating from Islamic schools.” 

The Zazzau explained that “we always tell them to combine the two education: western and Islamic education.”

Mr Bamali stated that it “is not about getting a degree,” stressing that a “degree is just a sheet of paper.”

He said, “It is not about having multiple degrees. What have you done? What can you do with your hands? That is what matters today, not to be doing things that will not even help you in your own home. We should always try and encourage the young ones, especially women.”

Mr Bamali insisted that “there is no point going to the university to study something that will not be useful to society.”

(NAN)

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