Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State says his government has reduced the disturbing number of out of school children standing at 680,000, by over 300,000 within one year.
He stated this during the celebration of his one year in office organised by the State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Malam Sadiq Mamman-Lagos in Kaduna.
Governor Sani said the feat was achieved due to the priority attention given to the education sector.
“One of the key areas we are focusing on is education, because we recognize education as the greatest enabler. We believe the only way we can address the issue of insecurity, poverty and unemployment is to ensure that, every child in Kaduna State goes to school.
“When we came in, we realized that we had about 680,000 out of school children in Kaduna. Today, when I visited the SDGs office, the record before us as we speak, we have reduce it with over 300,000. And that is largely because of our aggressive efforts and investment in education.
The Governor pointed out that, having realized that, Kaduna is one of the most difficult states to govern in Nigeria due to its cosmopolitan nature, he decided to run an inclusive government, which recognised the importance of every stakeholder’s contribution, especially the elders who had experienced in leadership and governance, hence the success of his administration.
“A lot of people are surprised that, within one year, we have done ground breaking and complete 54 roads, totaling about 673 kilometers within one year”
He explained that, his administration has built 62 brand new secondary schools and 2,347 new classrooms in existing primary schools across the State.
“It is because we are consulting; we have reached out to every former Governor of the State, because we believe the only way we can get it right, is to tap from their experiences. We give credit of our success to them and the Elders Forum we formed under the chairmanship of Alhaji Abubakar Mustapha and General Zamani Lekwot”
While highlighting the importance of agriculture and its 42% contribution to state’s GDP, Governor Uba Sani said his government has recently reached out to 60,000 small holder farmers with input and equipments to ensure that, state does not lose its pride position as number producer of Maize, Ginger and Tomatoes in the country.
Malam Uba Sani also spoke on his efforts at reconstruction, remodeling and reequipping the secondary healthcare centers in the state, which he said have been neglected for over a decade, as well as his rural revitalization project.
Speaking at the event, former Vice President and one time Governor of Kaduna State, Alhaji Mohammed Namadi Sambo commended Governor Uba Sani for bringing unity within a short period of time of government and security.
Earlier, the State Commissioner for Local government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Hon. Sadiq Mamman-Lagos said the event was put together to celebrate their leader, Governor Sani who has performed excellently well, what usually takes others four years to achieve.
The occasion was used to give business grants to over 100 supporters of Governor Sani at the grassroot, while some People With Disability (PWD) selected from the three zones of the state, were given wheelchairs.
Stakeholders, including the elders, traditional rulers, government officials, party faithfuls, labour leaders and members of organized private sector, as well as other citizens had attended the event.
COV/AMINU DALHATU
