Education is the ultimate leveller

When we began campaigning in 2014 for the responsibility to lead this state, we made it clear that Education is one of our priority areas. In the Restoration Programme, the APC manifesto for Kaduna State, we stated that “our educational policies and programmes are aimed at eradicating illiteracy in Kaduna State, ensuring every child gets at least nine years of free basic education, improving infrastructure and tools, while attracting the best people in character and learning to the teaching profession”.

We made Education the number one item in our manifesto because Education is a fundamental component of human capital development. At its best, Education is an aspirational asset, a tool that enables every human being to widen their horizon, develop skills and lift themselves up. Education is a leveller. It gives the children of the poor a chance to rise above the condition of their birth. And a nation of well-educated people offers immense opportunities for social mobility, enabling the poor to move out of poverty by the sheer force of talent and hard work.

This is is not a theoretical matter. Many Nigerians in their late fifties and above owe a lot of their lifetime achievements to public education. For instance, I had my primary education at Local Education Authority (LEA) School, Kawo. The foundation my teachers gave me in primary school was reinforced by very wonderful teachers at Barewa College, Zaria. The knowledge and hard work of these teachers nurtured the confidence and study habits that enabled me to earn First Class Honours at the Ahmadu Bello University, another public school.

I had not gone to any private school before I established my professional practice in Quantity Surveying in which Allah enabled me and my partners to enjoy considerable success. I have subsequently acquired further degrees from foreign, private universities, but I am a public school product and a very proud one at that. The other leaders of this government also went through the same public-school experience. Our Deputy Governor Barnabas Bala went to LEA Maiduguri Road, Federal Government College, Warri, University of Lagos and Ahmadu Bello University, where he graduated with distinction in Architecture. Balarabe Abbas Lawal, the Secretary to the State Government and Bashir Saidu, our Chief of Staff, are also products of the public school system. The irreplaceable Professor Jonathan Andrew Nok started life in LEA UngwanRimi, and went on to become a scientist of international acclaim. As our Commissioner of Education, Prof. Nok capably drove our programme to give the younger generations the opportunities we had as children.

Our generation has been so blessed by free, quality public education. While in school, we rubbed shoulders with the children of the rich and the offspring of the top government and military officers. And we went into the world with the skills to compete with anyone. In fact, people of a certain age will remember that at a point, the standards of our public universities were so high that those who could not get in had to go abroad!

Having been so blessed by decent public education, we cannot be derelict in the moral obligation to give unto others the wonderful things that we have been given.

It is this experience of enjoying the fruits of purposeful government action in our formative years that has moulded our political views and made us ardent champions of the equality of opportunity. I started life in rural Daudawa as the son of a pensioner. Without public education, I would not have gone to school. I believe that the children of the poor are entitled to the same opportunities that I was given.

Therefore, we have a governance mission to provide ordinary people and their offspring a sustainable ladder for social mobility. Our purpose in government is to promote equality of opportunity, to give every child the best prospects through decent education. It is to secure for our young people employment opportunities in a vibrant economy, regulated by a competent public service. It is about giving everyone a fair chance in the race of life! It about being for the people and seeking to empower them, not creating and exploiting dependency.

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