On Saturday, October 5, 2024, red-capped individuals flocked to Eagle Square, Abuja, for an important event. Alongside teachers from the 36 states of Nigeria and the FCT, they gathered to celebrate the 2024 World Teachers’ Day, where the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) honored the Kano State Governor, Alhaji Abba Kabir Yusuf, for his outstanding contributions to the education sector, alongside his counterparts from Borno, Oyo, Benue, Enugu, and Kebbi States.
Governor Yusuf received a prestigious golden award for his exceptional efforts in reforming the state’s education sector. This colorful event took place as numerous schools across Kano were undergoing various levels of renovation to address the neglect and decay of the past eight years.
Transforming Kano’s education sector, given its scale, is no small task, yet the signs of progress are visible. The restoration of confidence in the system is as important as reaching the finish line. So, what is Governor Abba doing right?
Firstly, the education sector received the highest allocation of N95 billion from the proposed N350 billion appropriation bill for Kano State’s 2024 fiscal year, surpassing UNESCO recommendations. To fund this significant allocation, the governor convened an international conference on education recovery, drawing support from national and international stakeholders in education, including multinational and bilateral donor agencies. This effort has unlocked donor funds previously unavailable to Kano State.
Another notable step Governor Abba took to restore confidence in higher education among Kano’s youth was settling backlogs of examination fees owed to local and international examination bodies. The National Board for Arabic and Islamic Studies (NBAIS) was owed examination fees for the 2020, 2021, and 2022 sessions by the state government; Governor Abba Kabir settled this debt in June 2024, facilitating the release of students’ results that had been withheld for three years. He also paid N740,000,000 to NECO, NBAIS, and NBTE for 2023 examinations. Observers may wonder if there was effective governance in Kano between 2015 and 2023, given the substantial backlog this administration has inherited.
In response to the increasing cost of living in Nigeria and the rise in tuition fees at federal institutions, Governor Abba has so far allocated N1,300,000,000 to 15 federal institutions to ease the economic burden on Kano students.
The governor also addressed the debts owed by the previous administration to graduate and postgraduate students sponsored by the Kwankwaso administration in private universities across Nigeria. These students had been denied their results, but they are now in possession of their certificates, thanks to Governor Abba.
Governor Abba reviewed the 60-year-old State Education Law and has sent 1,001 graduates with first-class and second-class upper degrees for postgraduate studies in India and Uganda. These students have already distinguished themselves academically and are expected to return by late 2024 or early 2025.
On the local front, Governor Abba has approved a 50% reduction in tuition fees for all Kano state-owned tertiary institutions to provide financial relief for students and their sponsors amid economic challenges.
He has also refurbished 73 high-capacity buses to transport girls to and from school daily within the municipality’s local government areas and doubled the feeding budget for students in boarding schools across the state. This has led to an expenditure of N4,000,000,000 to ensure timely food supplies for these schools.
Governor Abba’s support extended to purchasing JAMB forms for 5,000 students in the state and paying N2,900,000,000 to various examination bodies for the 2024 SSCE exams, benefiting 109,000 students.
To promote primary school enrollment across the state, Gov. Yusuf approved and released N1,500,000,000 for the purchase and sewing of uniforms for more than 800,000 Primary 1 pupils in 2024.
Believing that healthy teachers lead to healthy students, the governor has prioritized teachers’ welfare, ensuring prompt salary payments by the 25th of each month. He cleared the backlog of promotions from 2017 to 2022, benefiting 39,000 education sector personnel, mostly teachers. He approved the payment and implementation of promotions for 20,542 teachers across the 44 local government areas from 2023, effective October 2, 2024.
Additionally, Governor Yusuf has released N300,000,000 as soft loans for teachers. He recruited 5,643 teachers on permanent appointments and 4,000 more under the BESDA program. Last week, he distributed essential teaching and learning materials for the third time, spending over N2,000,000,000.
Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf has invested more than N3,500,000,000 to fabricate around 80,000 three-seater desks, providing seating for 240,000 students who previously sat on the bare floor.
The Community Re-orientation Committees (CRC) in all 44 local governments are renovating and equipping thousands of classrooms, offering shelter to over 15,000 students at a cost of N2,000,000,000. The governor has approved N5,000,000,000 for the construction and completion of hundreds of new classrooms across the state.
Governor Yusuf’s commitment to youth empowerment is evident in his revival of 26 schools for entrepreneurship and skills development. While other schools are being renovated, he has already reopened the Kano School of Informatics, Kano State Driving School, and Aliko Dangote Skills Acquisition Centre, among others.
Governor Yusuf has elevated education as a tool for positive change in Kano State in record time, fulfilling promises of free school desks, classroom renovations, new classrooms, and teacher recruitment. It is incumbent upon all Kano’s well-wishers to support this noble drive and disregard detractors.
Governor Abba is here for restoration, and the time to fix Kano is now.
Suleiman Hamid writes from Kano
