…As Governor Abba says he inherited over 4.5 million pupils sitting on bare floor in schools
Front Desmond Mgboh, Kano
National Leader of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, yesterday mocked the administration of former Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje in Kano State, accusing the administration of waste and misplacement of the priorities.
Kwankwaso, a two-time governor of the state made the remarks at the occasion of the declaration of a state of emergency on the educational sector of the state.
Former governor of Cross River State, Mr. Donald Duke, academics from various universities in the state and some politicians attended the event held at the Government House in Kano.
Kwankwaso recalled that when the government assumed office a year ago, it encountered a lot of challenges, adding that some citizens of the state did not want the people to enjoy the government.
“So, they went to court to get what is not theirs. But the court ruled in our favour and we continued in government, “he stated.
“They didn’t want the government to work for the people. They rather wanted the government to stay idle and be stealing as they did during the last eight years,” he stated further.
He, however, assured the people of the state that this was not their way or approach to governance, insisting that they would remain focused on quality service delivery to the people.
Kwankwaso also recalled that in 2011 when he assumed office, he encountered problems such as the bombing of mosques, markets and places of large gatherings but was not deterred from doing the right things.
“Those ones (who posed as obstacles in the past) were called Boko Haram, but these ones (current obstacles) I don’t know what name you have for them. Kano people have nothing to say to them but Allah Ya isa,” he said.
He stressed that developing education and addressing the problems therein was expected of every responsible government adding that education was the recipe to the present socio-political problems bedevilling the country.
He argued that the present peace in Kano State was credited to the fact that the government was embarking on the right policy steps to the administration of the state.
He charged Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, to continue working hard in the interest of the state even as he expressed his profound gratitude to the governor for reviving and continuing with his policy on education.
Meanwhile, Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf has revealed that over 4.7 million pupils were sitting on bare floor in primary schools across Kano State when we assumed office May 29, 2023.
The governor disclosed this during the declaration of State of Emergency on Education in Kano State held yesterday at the Kano Government House.
He added that over 400 schools have only one teacher for all the class subjects and all the pupils in the school.
Yusuf stated that lack of instructional materials was an additional problem that bedeviled the educational system when he took over adding that the situation had left both the teachers and students with outdated and insufficient resource materials.
His words: “Rather than building more classrooms and providing basic furniture in the schools, as well as hiring more teachers, the administration we took over from chose to butcher the land belonging to those schools, in some places demolishing classrooms to create space for shops.
“Those schools that they could not sell, they closed them down and got them vandalized. The encroachment of public school lands and the conversion of these vital institutions into private business premises is an affront to our communal values and a direct assault on our commitment to public education.
“This reckless appropriation of educational spaces for commercial use is unacceptable and must stopped immediately.
“Today, I stand before you with a profound sense of duty, compelled by the pressing need to address the precarious state of our education sector.
“As your elected governor, entrusted with the solemn responsibility of steering our state towards prosperity and progress, I cannot ignore the glaring reality that confronts us in the realm of education.
“And with education being our number one priority, and believing that education is not only a public good, but is also the greatest asset that any people can bequeath to its upcoming generation because no people can grow beyond the quality and standard of their education system, we must, therefore take radical but practical measures to reposition education provisioning in our state.”
He also bemoaned the proliferation of out-of-school children in the state, but promised that his administration has taken adequate steps to confront the menace.
“It is with a heavy heart that I bring forth this discourse, as the challenges we face in the education sector are as formidable as they are alarming, and the urgency with which we must act is undeniable.
“Our educational landscape, once a beacon of hope and opportunity for our youths, and an example for other states to copy, now stands shrouded in the shadows of unacceptable neglect and decay.”
