Katsina state Governor underscores importance of education to nation development

Katsina State Governor, Aminu Masari says education is the bedrock of every society thus Nigerian leaders must do their best to sustain the sector.

The Governor, who made the declaration in an interview with State House Correspondents, said Katsina State under his leadership, has prioritised education despite many challenges.

“So, despite all these challenges, we were able to record meaningful, documentary developmental projects that are key, but we emphasize on education because for us, we believe the best way out for Katsina State is education.

 “Katsina has been known for education since the coming of the colonial government, which is Western Education. Prior to that, Katsina was a center of Islamic Education, if you go; you will see evidence dating back over 700 years of the presence of an Islamic institution that was impacting knowledge. So Katsina is a state and a state capital, built on education and commerce,” he said.

According to the Governor, efforts put in by the State government had since started yielding the desired dividends as can be seen in the results of secondary school leavers.

“What we met as results of West African Examinations Certificate exam (WAEC) was 11%, What we met as results of the National Examination Council exam (NECO) was 19% and today on WAEC we’re getting 63%, that includes English and Mathematics, minimum of five credits, 63% within a record period of seven years and we have recorded over 80% for those who passed five credits in any subject.

 “So we are happy with the investments we’re making in education and we are also happy with the policies that we introduced in education. They are yielding results and so, for that, we thank God,” he added.

Health

Governor Masari stated that aside from education, the next thing every government needs to give the people is good health.

“You can see you were in one of our hospitals. That was a premier hospital, established in 1950 by the late Dukku, the father of the grandfather of the current Emir.

“So I’m happy today that we have given the general hospital new structures, new looks and new equipment. In fact, this general hospital can compete with many teaching hospitals in this country. So we have invested heavily and it’s not the only one.

 “We did a similar thing in the Daura, we did a similar thing in Kankia. The one of Musawa was commissioned, we did one in Malumfashi, and we did one in Funtua. So we were all around the state. What we were doing was taking projects across the three senatorial districts and distributing them as much as we could.

 “So we addressed our needs and left our wants because wants can only come when you have surplus. But we tried very hard to address our needs, meet some of the obligations and the promises we made to the people,” he said.

Security

On Security, the Governor said the issue was inherited, adding that it is a global challenge.

“The issue of insecurity in this country was not a creation of APC. If, and I say ‘if’ with capital letters, it’s a creation of the government, then we didn’t create it, we inherited it. The past state of insecurity was handed over to us by the PDP government, who managed the affairs of the country for 16 years and this issue of insecurity is not only in Nigeria, it’s not only in Sub-Saharan Africa, but it’s a global issue.

 “The meltdown also threw a lot of people out of jobs, internationally and locally. So you have a large army, and again here in Sub-Saharan Africa, lack of education, which resulted in lack of skills for meaningful engagement, also created an army of unemployed youth that are easily recruited for Boko Haram, other insurgencies, banditry, name it.

 We have invested heavily in security, heavily because without our support and investment in security, it would have been impossible for the military, the police and the Nigerian Civil Defense to have moved at the pace they have moved.

“Today we still get some flashpoints, but it isn’t even up to 30% of what we used to have. Now we’re accessing almost all areas and I do believe, at the rate we’re going, this will be part of the history, not only of Katsina State, not only of the Northwest, but of Nigeria, but in nation building, you’re going to come across many challenges. After all, what is leadership without challenge?” the Governor said.