Ambassador Yakubu Musa: When Passion Meets Opportunity

By God'spower Ede

According to American middle and long distance runner record holder, Steve Prefontaine, "When passion meets opportunity, purpose is unleashed." 

This famous quote suggests that when someone's passion aligns with an opportunity, they are more likely to unlock their true potential and fulfill their purpose. 

This is exactly the story of Ambassador Yakubu Musa, the Protocol Liaison Officer to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, an alumnus of Nasarawa State University Keffi.

Ambassador Yakubu Musa was among the pioneering students of the university, established in 2002 by the first civilian Governor of Nasarawa State, Sen. Dr. Abdullahi Adamu. He graduated from the Political Science Department of Nasarawa State University, class of 2007. 

Shortly after graduation, the young diplomat secured a job with the Federal Government of Nigeria in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, providing him with an opportunity to embark on foreign missions to different countries worldwide. His last tour of duty was in France as a diplomatic attaché at the Nigerian Embassy in Paris, where he crossed paths with the then President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, an encounter that led to his historic appointment as the Protocol Liaison Officer (PLO) to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Since his appointment to this prestigious role, Ambassador Yakubu Musa has continued to discharge his duties with diligence, dedication, and passion for professional excellence. 

Apart from rendering services to the nation in a role rarely occupied by young men of his age, Ambassador Musa has remained a worthy ambassador of his local government of Toto and Nasarawa State as a whole.

Most significantly, he has remained a worthy alumnus of his alma mater, Nasarawa State University Keffi, contributing remarkably to its development in many positive ways.

As a man with passion for philanthropy and care for the less privileged, Ambassador Yakubu Musa has continued to use his God-given resources to bring succor to the lives of many within his Gade-speaking people, Toto Local Government Area, Nasarawa State, and the nation at large. 

His philanthropy cuts across providing scholarships to less privileged indigent students to enable them acquire Western education and become responsible citizens in the future. 

As he has always said, "my passion is to make children of nobody become somebody in society"

No wonder the Ambassador has instituted an annual PLO scholarship scheme for indigent students, where first-class candidates receive one hundred and fifty thousand naira, while others with a CGPA of over three points receive one hundred thousand naira, respectively. 

Additionally, he has executed series of community development projects, which cut across education, religion, water supply, electricity, among others, in his locality and beyond.

Consequently, as a proud alumnus of Nasarawa State University Keffi, Ambassador Yakubu Musa recently returned to his alma mater to execute a landmark project as part of his commitment to give back to the very system that nurtured him academically. 

Following an earlier request made by the President of the Nasarawa State University Alumni Association, Barr. Nuhu J. Egya, during a courtesy visit in Abuja on November 1st, 2025, Ambassador Musa graciously accepted and constructed a one-storey state-of-the-art Alumni Secretariat Building at the main campus of the university in Keffi. 

The project, which cost him over one hundred and fifty-five million naira, was supervised directly by himself and completed within a record time of less than five months. 

The edifice was subsequently commissioned by the Executive Governor of Nasarawa State, Engr. Abdullahi Sule, during the 8th Combined Convocation and 25th Anniversary of the university held on Saturday, 11th April, 2027, in Keffi.

No doubt, Ambassador Yakubu Musa is a great asset, not only to the alumni of the university but to the entire Nasarawa State and the nation. 

His exemplary footprint remains a reference point for all privileged alumni members of the university who must see the need to return and invest their resources in the university as a way to give back to the system.

Equally worthy of mention is the need for all members of the alumni to rally around the Ambassador, who has not only built a world-class secretariat for them but has lifted a burden of doing so from the leadership of the association. Such an endeavor wouldn't have been easily achieved by the executives within their three-year tenure, even if they would suspend all other expenditures and deploy their entire alumni collections into the project.

Indeed, Ambassador Yakubu Musa deserves more than an honor. His name should be permanently engraved on the project as a mark of appreciation and honor.

Beyond this, Ambassador Yakubu Musa remains a valuable asset whose reward should go beyond honor and recognition; he actually deserves a bigger responsibility in the future to enable him serve the state and the nation better. 

As it is often said, the reward for hard work is more work.

Written by God'spower Ede, National Public Relations Officer, NSUK Alumni Association