Mukhtar Yahya Usman

The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) has honored Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano State, with a prestigious award for his exceptional performance in reforming the state’s education sector.

This was contained in a statement issued by the Governor’s Spokesperson, Sanusi Bature Dawakin-Tofa on Saturday.

The award was presented during the celebration of World Teachers’ Day 2024 at Eagle Square, Abuja, in a vibrant event organized in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Education.

The event brought together teachers from across the 36 states of Nigeria to honor the significant contributions made to the education sector.

Governor Yusuf was recognized with the NUT Golden Award for his transformative efforts in rescuing Kano’s education sector from years of decay and neglect.

In his remarks, NUT National Chairman, Comrade Titus Ambe, noted that only six governors were selected for this honor, based on their unwavering commitment to advancing education, particularly through the support of teachers’ welfare and continuous training.

Specifically, Governor Yusuf’s accomplishments were highlighted, including his administration’s allocation of 29.9% of Kano’s 2024 budget to education and his declaration of a state of emergency in the sector, which has significantly improved both infrastructure and access to quality education in the state.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, commended the governors for their dedication.

Speaking on behalf of the six awardees, which included the Governors of Borno, Oyo, Benue, Enugu, and Kebbi states, Governor Yusuf reaffirmed his commitment to further investing in education, emphasizing the importance of sustaining progress to ensure future generations thrive.

Nasiru Yusuf Ibrahim

The major opposition political party in Kano, the All Progressives Congress, APC, on Friday instituted a fresh suit against the Kano State Independent Electoral Commission, KANSIEC, before the Federal High Court sitting in Kano.

KANO FOCUS reports that the party is asking the court to stop the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, from releasing voter register for the conduct of the council poll.

The plaintiffs, APC and the party Chairman, Abdullahi Abbas, instituted the suit through their counsel, Ismail Abdulaziz.

They also sought an interlocutory application to restrain the state electoral body from continuing with the process and conduct of the council election slated for 26th October, 2024.

Defendants joined in the suit include, the Kano State Attorney General, Kano State Independent Electoral Commission, KANSIEC, Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Attorney General of the Federation, AGF, KANSIEC Chairman, Sani Lawan and other members.

Abdulaziz said, “we are asking for the court to interpret some provisions of the constitution, KANSIEC guidelines, the law itself in seeking whether KANSIEC is a revenue generating agency and considering that the N9m and N4m requested to be paid by Chairmanship and Councillorship candidates by KANSIEC were exorbitant.

“We want the court to determine whether KANSIEC will be impartial looking at present members that constituted the commission.

“We are also seeking the court to order INEC not to release election materials such as voter register to KANSIEC until the commission abide by the provision of the constitution.

“We now sought for interlocutory injunction to restrain the continuation of the continuing with process and conduct of the election. The defendants did not receive our processes and the court adjourned till next Friday so that all the parties to file their responses,” Abdulaziz said.

Moving the application before the Presiding Judge, Justice Simon Amobeda, on Friday the court adjourned the matter till 11th October, 2024 and ordered the plaintiffs to serve the defendants.

Meanwhile, in a related matter, the Counsels to Kano State government, Rilwanu Umar SAN and Kano State House of Assembly, Bar. Bashir Yusuf said they have filed a preliminary objections before the Justice Amobeda challenging the jurisdiction of the court to hear matters concerning KANSIEC.

The Counsels said only state high court and state assembly have the powers to entertain any matter that border on regulations of KANSIEC and not federal agency or so.

Kano state government application came in response to motion on notice moved by APC and one Aliyu Aminu Tiga on why the court should not stop the conduct of the election.

Recall one Aminu Aliyu Tiga and the APC had earlier filed an application seeking the court to stop the electoral body from conducting the elections in which Justice Amobeda in interim refused to grant and however noted that the defendants shall be put on notice to show cause why the prayers shall not be granted.

The Court presided by Justice Simon Amobeda however adjourned the matter till 11th October for hearing.

Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf on Thursday flag off distribution of instructional materials worth millions of naira to public schools as part of its educational recovery policy.

This was made known in a statement issued by the Governor’s Spokesperson Sanusi Bature Dawakin Tofa.

The distribution of the educational materials that would be issued free to pupils in Primary, Junior and Secondary Schools in the state, comes few days after the government unveiled hundreds of school furniture across public learning centres to enable a conducive atmosphere for effective teaching and learning.

Unveiling the learning materials at Government House, Governor Yusuf said government is taking a bold step to reverse the unfortunate setbacks brought to system over the years.

The Governor regretted what he considered as deteriorating
infrastructure, and high number of out-of-school children, coupled with the closure of several boarding schools before he assumed the mantle of leadership.

Yusuf worried that the ugly situation brought about by poor management of public policy on education by the past administration, have led to a severe decline in the quality of education across the state.

He however pledged his administration’s commitment to address the predicaments in line with his vision to restore the lost glory of quality system of education in Kano.

“We are fully committed to addressing these issues head-on. In line with our vision to restore the greatness of education in Kano State, we declared a State of Emergency in Education to pave the way for a holistic approach to revamping our educational system ensure they are equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge to educate our children effectively.

“Our administration has also embarked on the massive rehabilitation of schools across the state, as well as the construction of new blocks of classrooms to create a conducive learning environment.

“We have recently produced hundreds of thousands of pieces of furniture for our pupils, and very soon, we shall flag off the distribution of school uniforms for Primary One pupils, ensuring they start their educational journey with dignity and pride”. Yusuf said.

The instructional materials provided as explained by the governor are essential for creating an enabling environment where teaching and learning can thrive as education is the bedrock of development and providing necessary resources for its development is an investment for the future.

He used the opportunity to call on parents and stakeholders to partner with the present administration to rebuild, reenergize and ensure children are return back to schools.

Materials distributed during the occasion include; 120,000 cartons of Chalk,97,532 record of workbooks, 93,600 exercise books, 199,234 class registers, 350,000 student report sheets, 351,000 lesson observation books, and 30,000 copies of new National Anthem