Kano: Governor Abba Yusuf’s Many Strides In The Education Sector

By Umar Haruna Doguwa

One of Africa’s greatest sons and former president of South Africa, Dr. Nelson Mandela once said “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

In saying these immortal words of wisdom, I think the great man of history had Kano State in mind considering the many strides being made by the incumbent government ably led by Engr. Abba Kabir Yusuf.

A product of the Kwankwassiyya Movement where he emerged from, Governor Abba is greatly toeing the line of the touch bearer of the movement and National Leader of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Sen. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, to Gov. Abba “Education is a Leveler”

The aim and the objective of the Kwankwassiyya Movement is simple, the emancipation of the average masses for a more productive, rewarding and impactful life with the view to contributing effectively to the progress and development of mankind as a whole.

To the ubiquitous movement, education remains the only potent key to unlocking the genius in the state personality and the successive governments except the last administration that reverses all the past gains. His Excellency, Gov. Abba has put in place modalities in implementing this noble objective religiously.

Perhaps, one man who has shown uncommon passion like the leader of Kwankwassiyya, Sen. Kwankwaso in giving vent to this aspiration is Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf who has made so much progress along this line since mounting the saddle last year.

And in putting education first, a forth night ago, His Excellency, Gov. Abba declared “State of Emergency” in order to overhaul the education sector as it happened during former governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso.

Despite series of landmines and deliberate distraction that have been put in his way by the discredited opposition elements, he keeps forging ahead like a Trojan horse.

It should be known that the governor met education sector in a complete shambles.
Former administration of Abdullahi Ganduje completely ruined the educational sector to the point where our pupils doesn’t have a roof on their heads and cluster stones became their furnitures.

For a better appreciation of the accomplishments in the sector, some of the policies and actions in the last one year should be put in proper perspectives.

It is to the credit of the governor that Kano State Government has expended nearly N5 billion naira on the construction and rehabilitation of classrooms across the 44 local government areas of the state in it’s phase one action plans.

In the same token, over N2.92 billion has been set aside for the construction of new blocks while the sum of N1.95 billion has also been earmarked for rehabilitation and other decapitated structures in schools across the state.

For his love for knowledge, the governor strongly believe in strengthen elementary sector of education which is a pivotal in the process of acquiring knowledge. And in the area of primary education, which is seen as the foundation for learning, Gov. Abba Yusuf on Tuesday personally presented cheque to the management of CRC and other stakeholders for various projects in the educational sector.

The event was well attended as I hosted in my capacity as the Commissioner for Education, stakeholders from CRC, SUBEB and others from all the LGAs across the state who were in attendance.

In the period under review, the state government also paid in full all the required funding for the various programmes and policies in the sector.

Kano State Government paid the fees required for registration by students writing their National Examination Council, NECO.

The government not only paid outstanding fees for students on its Foreign Scholarship schemes, it also embarked on clearing school fees of all indigenes in higher institutions across the country.

The workaholic governor has also shared millions of stationary and instructional materials to the pupils across the 44 LGAs. In few weeks to come basic text books, uniforms will follow.

To bridge the gap in the existing teacher to student ratio, the state government employed over five thousand teaching staff into the various primary and secondary schools across the state.

Apart of putting in place a conducive learning environment for the pupils and the teachers, the state government has embarked on numerous welfare schemes for the teaching staff.

For instance, the governor has cleared all the promotional issues. In addition to this, he has clears all pension arrears due to school teachers which the immediate past government failed to do.

To ensure quality, the state government has also stepped up inspectorate mechanism across the schools with a view to ensuring that the pupils are properly being instructed based on the provisions of their teaching manual.

With all these in place coupled with the fact that the state government still has a lot in stock for the people of Kano State, the desire to make the state the centre for knowledge and research is gradually coming to fruition.

Doguwa who is the Commissioner for Education wrote this piece from Kano