For Ambassador Saifullahi Sadisu Yazid Kazaure, community service is not about popularity, recognition or receiving praise, but about creating opportunities, giving hope to the youth and helping individuals become impactful in the society.
As the chief executive officer of the Dr Saufhan Foundation, state official of the GTI Human Rights Activists and founder of the Jigawa Youth Awareness Forum (JYAF), Kazaure has positioned himself at the intersection of youth advocacy, community development, education and grassroots mobilisation.
As a youth advocate and community development ambassador, he is also involved in youth and student leadership activities, focusing on education, youth development, leadership, digital skills and community engagement.
Through the Dr Saufhan Foundation, Kazaure said his team supported youths and other members of the community through educational guidance, youth engagement, advocacy, community outreach, support to vulnerable people and creating awareness opportunities.
According to him, his philosophy is not simply to provide assistance whenever people encounter difficulties but to encourage youths becoming informed, responsible and active participants in the development of their communities.
Kazaure noted that his motivation came from a desire to see youths being hopeful to available opportunities that would enable them build meaningful lives.
According to him, many youths have the ability, talent and potential to succeed but most times lack the information, guidance, encouragement or access to opportunities necessary to realise their potential.
He believes that assisting one youth can create a wider impact on the society.
He said helping a student understand how to pursue education could eventually produce a professional who contributes to the development of the community, while providing the right information or encouragement at the right time could completely change the direction of a youth’s life.
‘For me, community service is not about popularity or recognition, but impact, responsibility and leaving people better than I met them,’ he said.
Kazaure noted that his interest in community service and youth engagement developed gradually from his involvement in student and youth activities around 2016.
He began by participating in activities relating to education, youth advocacy and community development before becoming more involved in organising and supporting initiatives that directly affect youths.
He said that over the years he had participated in initiatives involving educational guidance, student support, youth mobilisation, community awareness, humanitarian assistance and engagement with community leaders and other stakeholders.
His experience, he added, had strengthened his belief that meaningful development requires people who are willing to identify problems and work with others to find practical solutions.
Despite the impact of his activities, Kazaure acknowledged that community service came with significant challenges.
One of the major challenges, according to him, is limited resources as the number of people seeking assistance is often greater than the resources available.
He also identified sustainability as another challenge. ‘It is one thing to organise a one-time intervention, but more difficult to develop programmes that can continue and produce long-term results,’ he explained.
Managing expectations is another challenge he encounters. He said that when people see someone supporting others, they naturally expect the person to solve every problem brought before them.
Kazaure said he had learned to be honest about what he can and cannot do while still trying to direct people towards alternative solutions.
However, rather than allowing the challenges to discourage him, he sees them as part of the process of building a stronger and sustainable initiative.
‘No positive aim can be achieved without challenges. Challenges are not meant to make us abandon our targeted goals; they are part of what builds stronger and more positive objectives,’ he said.
He said the activities of his organisations had reached many youths, students and other members of the community, even though an exact figure could not be obtained.
He, however, noted that beneficiaries of the programmes included students seeking educational guidance, Unified Tertiary Matriculations Examination (UTME) candidates, youths seeking job opportunities, vulnerable members of the community and people reached through various awareness and outreach programmes.
He also noted that the impact of community service should not always be measured by numbers alone.
‘Sometimes helping one person at a critical moment can have a significant impact on that person’s future,’ he said.
He, however, believes that the activities have impacted thousands of lives within Kazaure, across Jigawa State and beyond.
According to him, one of the most rewarding aspects of his work is witnessing how information, guidance and encouragement can change people’s lives.
He said some students had received guidance that helped them make better educational decisions, particularly concerning admission processes and other available opportunities.
His organisations have also connected young people with information, networks and opportunities they might otherwise have missed.
He said that through community outreach and support initiatives, the foundation also provided assistance to people facing difficult circumstances.
But beyond material assistance, Kazaure believes that restoring confidence is one of the most important forms of empowerment.
‘Sometimes a young person does not need someone to solve everything for him. He needs someone to listen to him, guide him and tell him that his situation does not have to define his future,’ he said.
He explained that the ultimate goal was to move people from dependency to empowerment from constantly seeking help to eventually becoming individuals capable of helping others.
Looking ahead, he said his ambition was to move from individual assistance towards more structured and sustainable youth development programmes.
He wants to strengthen the Dr. Saufhan Foundation’s activities in education, youth empowerment, digital skills, employment and community development.
He is particularly interested in using technology, data analytics and artificial intelligence to create practical opportunities for young people.
His academic background in Plant Science, Information Technology, Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning, he said, had influenced his vision for the future.
‘I want to combine technology and grassroots knowledge to develop solutions that address real problems in our communities,’ he said.
He also believes that sustainable community development cannot be achieved by one person or organisation working alone.
He plans to build stronger partnership with government institutions, private organisations, development partners, educational institutions and other youth-led organisations.
According to him, collaboration is essential because community problems are complex and require collective efforts.
‘No individual or organisation can solve all community problems alone; sustainable development requires collaboration,’ he said.
For Kazaure, the ultimate ambition is not simply to help people overcome today’s challenges but to create a generation of young people capable of creating solutions for tomorrow.
He wants to see young people who are educated, skilled, responsible and confident enough to contribute positively to their communities.
‘My ambition is to build a generation of young people who are educated, skilled, responsible and confident enough to contribute to their communities,’ he said.
He added that his greatest measure of success would be to see people who once benefitted from his initiatives eventually become individuals who support and empower others.
‘I want my work to go beyond helping people today. I want to help create people who would become capable of helping others tomorrow. That, for me, is the meaning of sustainable community development,’ Kazaure said.