Following his declaration of free education and improved welfare for the teachers and other civil servants in Kano state, the state governor, Abudullahi Umar Ganduje, has signed an agreement to build five thousands houses for the teachers.
The agreement was signed by the Kano state Commissiober for Justice Mohammed Lawan on behalf of the government while director general of Family Homes Femi Adewole signed on behalf of the company.
Speaking at the event Thursday in Abuja, governor Ganduje said his administration was doing possible to restore the dignity of education in the state, adding that the state government has shifted the retirement age from 60 to 65 while age of service from 35 to 40 years.
He said when he declared free and compulsory education from primary to secondary in the state the intention was to make it accessible for the downtrodden.
He said since 2015 Kano has never missed the payment of counterpart funding for the Universal Basic Education (UBEC).
The governor said his administration has been making available 26% of its annual budget for the education.
He said currently the British Council is assisting the state to train and retrain the teachers on the new method of teaching to improve quality of education and
“You know we use to have GRA (Government Reserved Areas) now we now have TRA in Kano, which means Teachers Reserve Areas as part of effort to restore the dignity of education in the state.”
He assured the real estate company of his seriouseness to complete the project early, adding that his administration don’t believe in abandon projects.
For the Senator representing Kano central, Ibrahim Shakarau, said the housing project “is so dear to the development of education,” adding that of all the projects so far executed the state, welfare of the teachers which include housing project is the best.
According to Shekarau, only happy and committed teachers will produce responsible children. No nation can grow without quality teachers.
He said having plans for teachers to retire into a decent home is also Godly, “Only God knows the reward your will get by investing into the lives of teachers. Only a Godly man will invest in education because many of those who invested in education will not leave to see the result.”
Kano state commissioner for education, Mohammed Sanusi Kiru, while commending the governor said “In all the state of the federation there is no governor that is investing in education like Kano state. We are so happy that you are making our teachers comfortable and we believe that we will see more under your administration.”
In his presentation, the Managing Director of Family Homes, Femi Adewole, expressed happiness for his organisation to partner with the Kano state.
He assured the state government of commitments to make the teachers happy.
He said the governor has demonstrated commitment by providing lands for the project.
“It is our turn to do our part, I want to assure you that we will see our part and teachers in Kano state will start seeing the completion of those houses this year.”
Speaking earlier, Kano state chairman of Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) Ahmed Ambali, while appreciating the governor challenged other state governments to emulate Abdullahi Ganduje.
