By Ikugbadi Oluwasegun
Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State revealed that the number of out-of-school children in his state has reduced by 300,000 since April 2024.
Governor Sani shared this information with reporters at the State House on Friday following his discussions with President Bola Tinubu at the Aso Rock Villa in Abuja.
According to estimates from the Kaduna State Bureau of Statistics, there are approximately 768,739 children in the state who are not currently enrolled in basic education, covering grades Basic 1 through 9.
Sani mentioned that this figure has dropped by 300,000 as a result of prioritizing educational infrastructure.
He said, “I informed him (President Tinubu) that in the last six months, we have reduced the number of out-of-school children by about 300,000 because we built 62 secondary schools in Kaduna and 2,340 classrooms in primary schools; we have employed teachers.
“We have also been able to reconstruct, remodel, and equip about 12 secondary healthcare centres in Kaduna State.
“Yes, we embarked on a severe adjustment. We clarified that we need to reduce the cost of governance in Kaduna State. To date, we have not bought a single vehicle for any government official in Kaduna State.
“We’ve reduced the allowances of all our commissioners and advisers; even I have been receiving half of my salary since I became governor of Kaduna State, and I’ve not had a single new vehicle as governor.
“So we have tremendously reduced the cost of governance, and that’s the way to go if we want to address our problems and improve major areas such as education and healthcare infrastructure.”