Nigeria, Dec. 3 -- As I write, about 300 fresh undergraduates are receiving life changing full university scholarship courtesy of Senator Saliu Mustapha, the senator representing the Kwara Central Senatorial District at the National Assembly. He started with 200 last year. This year, he decided to raise the bar. In total about N300 million committed to what economists call human capital. Full scholarships from first level until graduation. No half measures. Full!

This is not the sort of announcement our politics is accustomed to. When a politician wants quick applause, he buys rams during Sallah or sprays money in a crowd. But paying school fees for four to five years, even six, in an era when university costs jump every session like fue...