Sola Ojo, Kaduna
Senator representing Kaduna Central and Chairman, Banking and Finance committee in the Senate, Uba Sani lamented that education in the Northern part of the country.
is in serious crisis.
This is even as he urged the rich business men and politicians of Northern extraction to stop the drift and assist their fellow brothers and sisters.
The lawmaker, who made the lamented as a guest speaker at the maiden Uba Sani Foundation West African Examinations Council (WAEC) scholarship award ceremony for 175 indigent students , appealed to them to put their resources together to salvage the situation.
The students were drawn from 38 secondary schools in seven local government areas under his senatorial franchise.
“Education in the North is in serious crisis. A recent survey conducted by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) indicates that the population of out-of-school children in Nigeria has risen from 10.5 million to 13.2 million, the highest in the world.
Uba Sani Foundation had conducted mock examination in the 38 public secondary schools before arriving at the best five from each of the schools. The foundation also promised to support those that passed their WAEC and JAMB to further their education.
“I congratulate all the successful students. You have done exceedingly well and must be commended for emerging tops. This has been a painstaking and thorough process. The foundation made deliberate efforts to ensure that the process is credible which is the only way to guarantee the integrity of the exercise.
“Of this outrageous population of out-of-school children, about 70% are in the North of Nigeria. This is quite disturbing and must worry all of us who still care for the North and Nigeria in general. The Kaduna State Government has made education a key priority, implementing measures aimed at addressing the huge challenges facing education in the state. Governor Nasir El-Rufai is indeed changing the face of education in Kaduna State’’ he stated..
“But, government alone cannot do everything. We must stop lamentation. We must work the talk. Business men and politicians of Northern extraction should join us by going back to their respective grassroots and I believe that, in the next two to three years, the number will reduce drastically as we join hands.