The Deputy President of the Senate, Sen. Barau Jibrin (APC Kano-North), has said that a rapid decline in social infrastructure, particularly in education and health, demands urgent interventions by stakeholders to reverse the trend and place the state on the right path.
Kano is ranked 11th (39.2%) among the states with the highest
out-of-school-children children in Nigeria, next to Niger (42.8%) and (45.9%) in the 10th and 9th positions respectively, according to a recent survey by The Cable Index.
The top three states with the highest out-of-school-children are Kebbi (67.6%); Sokoto (66.4%); and Yobe (62.9%) respectively.
Sen. Jibrin is concerned that except urgent measures like adequate funding, appropriate political decisions and collaborative efforts are taken to address the infrastructure decline, Kano may fall further down the ladder.
The DSP spoke in Abuja when he granted audience to leaders and members of the Kano Concerned Citizens Movement (KCCM), who visited him at the National Assembly, saying that the state could not afford to neglect education because of its pivotal role in development.
The KCCM, a socio-economic and political organisation, was in Abuja to bestow an award of excellence on Sen. Jibrin in recognition of his performance in office in one year.
He informed the organisation that as an individual, he had over the years supported in finding solutions to the systemic dysfunctions afflicting the State through interventions like provisions of school desks for about 300, 000 pupils, exercise books, notebooks and lesson plans in Kano-North Senatorial District.
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The DSP spoke more, “You are all witnesses to what is happening in Kano State today, which is completely different from the legacies left behind by the foremost leaders in the state like the late Mallam Aminu Kano, Governor Audu Bako and Alhaji Abubakar Rimi, etc .
“What is happening in Kano now is not palatable. We need to work together to put it in the right trajectory, particularly in the area of education, which is the bedrock of any society.
“Any society that lacks the required solid educational foundation is doomed. That is the reason the situation of pupils in some of the public schools in the state sitting on bare floors, crowded in classrooms that cannot shield them from the sun and the rain must be addressed.
“The pathetic situation has made me to silently provide chairs and desks to about 300, 000 pupils in some affected public schools in mybl senatorial district.
“In carrying out the intervention, it was even discovered that in one of the secondary schools, a publicly-owned grammar school, only three teachers were on ground for about 1,000 pupils.
“The required urgent intervention will be expanded to the entire state soonest.
“However, such interventions cannot be done alone. They require inputs from all stakeholders since state or nation building cannot be done alone.”
Speaking shortly before the presentation, the leader of the KCCM, whose membership cuts across the 44 local government areas in the state, Prof. Garba Shehu, acknowledged the contributions of Sen. Jibrin to the development of Kano state before and after becoming the Deputy President of the Senate.
A statement by Sen. Jibrin’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ismail Mudashir, on Wednesday, quoted Prof. Shehu as saying, “You have done a lot in your first year as Deputy President of the Senate, not only in Kano but in the entire country, thus contributing to the growth of our country.
