Education Is Kaduna’s Weapon Against Poverty, Insecurity, Says Uba Sani

Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State has reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to education as a strategic weapon to combat poverty and insecurity in the state, declaring that significant progress has already been made through massive investments in the education sector.

Speaking during a recent stakeholders’ forum in Kaduna, the governor said the state’s long-term security and development goals could only be achieved by empowering its population with quality education, skills, and access to opportunities.

He said, “Education remains the most powerful weapon we can use to break the cycle of poverty and to reduce the threat of insecurity that continues to linger in some parts of Kaduna. If our young people are educated, skilled, and empowered, they will be less vulnerable to being recruited into criminal activity or manipulated by extremists.”

According to the governor, the state has reduced its out-of-school population by about 300,000 within a year — dropping from over 680,000 in 2023 to about 380,000 in 2024. This feat, he noted, was achieved through an aggressive education expansion program that included the construction of 62 new secondary schools and over 2,300 new classrooms in primary schools across the 23 local government areas.

In further support of basic education, Sani’s administration has completed more than 600 classrooms and is in the process of renovating over 200 existing schools.

He emphasized that these interventions are guided by a commitment to ensure that no child has to walk more than one kilometre to access basic education.

At the secondary level, six new science-focused secondary schools were completed with support from the Islamic Development Bank, providing enhanced access to quality STEM education.

The governor also highlighted the drastic reduction of tuition fees in all state-owned tertiary institutions by 30 to 50 percent.

This move, he said, has boosted enrollment, particularly among students from low-income backgrounds.

The initiative applies to Kaduna State University (KASU), Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic, and the College of Education in Gidan-Waya.

“My first executive action as governor was to slash tuition fees across the board. I knew that without making education affordable, our youth would remain locked out of the opportunities that learning offers,” he added.

In addition to formal education, the state government has launched a bold skills development strategy with the establishment of three Skills Acquisition and Technology Cities located in Rigachikun, Samaru Kataf, and Soba.

These centres train young people in various trades including welding, carpentry, solar technology, artificial intelligence, and ICT, with certification from the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) and global tech companies like Google, Cisco, and Huawei.

Combined, the centres are projected to train 1,600 youths annually.

The government has also remodeled Panteka Market into a skills hub for artisans, offering training to more than 38,000 informal sector workers.

In the area of scholarships and financial aid, the Kaduna State Scholarship and Loans Board has awarded more than 3,000 local tertiary scholarships since May 2023. The board has also removed barriers such as tax clearance requirements, while opening zonal offices in seven districts to improve access.

Special scholarships are also now available for aviation students, people with disabilities, and students in high-demand innovation sectors, further widening access to education and professional development.

Governor Uba Sani said all these efforts are backed by budgetary reforms and cost-cutting within government operations, including reducing unnecessary allowances and perks for public officials to free up more funds for education and youth empowerment.

As insecurity and economic challenges persist across parts of the North-West, the Kaduna governor’s approach has received praise from education stakeholders and civil society groups who say the model offers a viable long-term strategy for peace and prosperity.

“We are not just building schools — we are building the future of Kaduna State,” Governor Sani concluded.