In a society where many vulnerable families struggle to pay medical bills, keep children in school, or raise capital for small businesses, a Gombe philanthropist is using his personal resources to intervene where help is needed.
Engr. Aliyu Mohammed is a trained Electrical Engineer and player in the Nigerian real estate market. Popularly known as Aliyu Kombat, he is the founder of Velocity Humanitarian Foundation (VHF), a non-governmental organisation quietly supporting thousands of people, from patients, students, women, and small business owners across Gombe state.
For instance, in June 2026, the foundation awarded N10 million to 100 Gombe indigenes studying in various tertiary institutions outside the state.
In an earlier intervention in 2025, over N400 million was paid as tuition fees for 2,200 students of Gombe State University (GSU) and another N100 million for 412 students at the Federal University of Kashere (FUK).
The beneficiaries of the foundation’s support, incorporated in 2025, have extended beyond students of tertiary institution or students.
When Fatima Adamu, a nine-year-old girl, had an accident, she had a fracture in one of her legs, which kept her bedridden for about two years. When her condition deteriorated, medical doctors recommended that her leg be amputated.
However, her parents approached the VHF to solicit assistance to pay for the amputation surgery. Instead of amputation, the foundation took her to another hospital, where a surgery was conducted and young Fatima was back on her two feet.
‘He also enrolled me in a big private school here in Gombe,’ she recalled, and expressed gratitude to the philanthropist.
Fatima’s father, Malam Adamu Ahmad said he lacked words to appreciate the foundation for positively changing the life of his daughter.
‘In the whole of Gombe State, I believe that no one has benefited from the VHF support more than me. We suffered a lot; we sold our properties but the foundation took over the responsibility of her medical treatment and even her education. May God reward him abundantly,’ he said.
Similarly, Abdulhamid Ibrahim, a spinal cord injury patient who had lost all hope of ever walking again is now back on his feet courtesy of the VHF. After years of pain and immobility, the organisation sponsored his spinal cord surgery which has now enabled him to walk again.
Ibrahim said, ‘I had already given up on walking with my feet again. I thought my life had ended, but VHF came to my rescue and sponsored my surgery. Today I am back on my feet. May Allah bless Kombat and the entire VHF team abundantly.’
Ms Damaris Danladi Maikano, a beneficiary of VHF empowerment support, said she used the start-up capital to venture into fish farming.
‘Honestly, the grant support from the VHF has improved my fish farming business. I was able to settle my debt and the fish business is also growing. I am very grateful to Aliyu Kombat.’
‘My inspiration’
Kombat told Daily Trust what inspired him to set up the foundation. ‘A hospital bill can mean selling the little family assets. For a student, an unpaid school fee can threaten years of education, while for a small trader a lack of capital can force a promising business to shut down.
‘These are some of the gaps that inspired the creation of the Velocity Humanitarian Foundation to ease the difficulties my community is going through, in terms of education, healthcare, and empowerment. I feel there is a need for me to give back to my community, so that is the essence of establishing the foundation.’
He added that when he learnt that university students risk dropping out of school because of lack of payment of fees, he knew that he must intervene.
‘When I was informed about the issue, I sat down and started thinking: we are complaining of insecurity in the country, and here are 2,200 youths from GSU and another 412 from FUK having it tough. I felt that I can’t just look away, so I had to intervene.
However, instead of a one-off payment of students’ fees, Aliyu Kombat said the foundation is developing a framework that will take over 1,000 students and sponsor them from the inception until their graduation.
‘What we are planning to do now is that, from next year, we want to have a structured scholarship in such a way that we take 1,100 students, 100 from each of the 11 local government areas of Gombe State. The foundation will sponsor their entire tuition from the onset until their graduation, so that we will be tracking their performance, we will know what they are doing, and offer them support after graduation,’ he explained.
‘The foundation also provided boreholes for communities with acute water supply problems, especially in the metropolis. There was also support of foodstuffs to vulnerable people, especially during Ramadan and other festive seasons,’ he added.
According to Aliyu, he derives satisfaction from the smile he put on people’s faces and the testimonies from those to whom the foundation was able to offer assistance when they were in need.
The VHF founder also explained how the foundation identifies potential beneficiaries of its interventions.
‘For instance, under healthcare, we have what we call patient relations officers. Whenever I see a request for help on social media, I will tag them; they will visit the hospital, make enquiries on the claims. If it is found to be genuine, they will settle the bills or pay for the surgeries or treatments as the case may be
‘We prioritise patients with specific illnesses, like cancer, orthopaedic-related ailment, which are mostly costly, especially for the less-privileged.
‘But for payment of school fees, what we normally do is, for example, if a student has about two or three weeks to exams, and he couldn’t pay, you will know that definitely this person doesn’t have any means of paying his school fees, so we pay for them,’ he explained.
Aliyu Kombat acknowledged that there is pressure going by the number of people trooping to VHF to seek help, urging the government to double its efforts in helping people at the grassroots.
‘A lot of people are struggling economically, and the pressure is extremely high on the number of needy people that need help, even though the government is trying. But I still want to appeal that they should put in more effort to help the people.
Despite the numerous lives touched by the VHF, the founder told Daily Trust that he always prefers not to be in the spotlight, but to operate quietly.
Engr. Aliyu Kombat stated that he has a plan for VHF intervention would go beyond Gombe state and Northern Nigeria at large.
‘We have so many programmes in the pipeline, and in the next five years I want to see the VHF going to other states, not just in the North-East, but even beyond the Northern region.’
He also called on other wealthy individuals and people in general not to wait until they have surplus before they can begin to help those in need.
‘One doesn’t have to be rich to help someone in need. If you have N1000 and you can spare N200 or N300 to help someone, that is how, when you get more money, for instance, if you have N100 million, you can spare N20 million or N30 million to help others. But if you say, I only have N10,000, how can I help someone? You’ll never do it when you have more. You have to start from the small you have.’
Kombat said the foundation is not simply about giving money: ‘It is about responding to people’s needs, whether in healthcare, education, livelihood or other areas of humanitarian support.’