What I shall Do Differently, in the education sector.
(My word is my bond part I)

By
Alhaji Ibrahim Yahaya Mohammed
Sokodede
(Talban Samarin Nupe)




Assalamu Alaikum.
Dear Nigerlites

I respectfully bring to you greetings, and best wishes.
Henceforth, I shall use this medium to reach out and engage you on some of my realistic and cogent reasons why I want to serve you, as Governor. And, most of these policies I share here, shall form the fulcrum of my manifestos. Public office is a trust, and Trust is a bond, which I shall uphold.
I will begin with Education, because, the foundational basis or structure of any society is rooted firmly in education.
Similarly, an informed demographics or society is reflective of the kind of country it will birth. Therefore, we shall focus on education, the attendant challenges and how to fix it for the overall benefit of good people of Niger.

Education:

To underscore the significance of education in our lives, our Prophet, Muhammad SAW admonished us to seek education (knowledge) as far as we could, no matter how daunting the challenges are, and the distance covered to seek it. This underscores the significance and the all important spaces education has, in the live if the citizenry.

Dr Nelson Mandela, has this to say; "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world".

Education is the bedrock, and foundation upon which society expatiate, and a cradle of all civilizations.
Niger, has been historically a center for learning and scholarship for centuries. It has provided the nexus between scholarship and trans-sahara trade, the two fundamental model for development.
Historically, many Mangarawa and other Hausa city state scholars visited ancient Nupe Kingdom for scholarship purposes. So rich was our educational heritage, which, sadly has retrogressively declined over years.

In order to reintegrate our dear state on the a greater educational pedestal, I shall make primary education compulsory, free and accessible to all regardless of creed, political leaning, faith or status.

Currently, in Nigeria, there are about 13 million out-of-school children, making it highest in the world. And of the said figure, northern Nigeria has the highest, while Niger State got a sizeable share. We shall mitigate the trend by doing things differently, which include the following, and not limited to the following.

*Provide monthly package for indigent parents who enroll their children in school, that way, the support will bolster and increase school enrollment.

*Tweak and repackage the Home-grown school feeding program which, according to statistics was partly responsible for an increase in school enrollment. We can do that through an elaborate funding scheme.

* FCE graduates in the state will be given stipends as encouragement to harness and cultivate efficient teaching manpower and professionalism.

* Building and equipping schools, and making it accessible to rural communities, while sustaining the existing ones.

* In most cases, I shall create and ensure greater synergy between SUBEB, international donor agencies and development partners for greater access and inclusiveness.

* Safe School Declaration, SSD, is an international global coalition against attacks on schools during conflict of which Nigeria is signatory to. I shall reinvigorate and make the policy most feasible to encourage more school enrollment.
Similarly, we shall secure schools by providing round the clock SECURITY through intelligence, both physical and artificial. Our schools must be SECURED, by all means.

*I shall draw a template to reward excellence inorder to promote the culture of efficiency, both for teachers and excelling students.
We shall take seriously, issue of teacher training and ensure swift payments of entitlements.

* I shall engage international development partners like UNESCO, DFID, Save the Children, USAID, etc to harness and explore various education interventions for the good of the state

*In my capacity as a entrepreneur, I have already established an elaborate education intervention fund, where scholarships are provided to deserving individuals. I shall expand the scope and integrate more beneficiaries. This I was able to accomplish through my foundation.

* An "Education champion, or Ambassador", for every local government will be created. The yearly event would pick the most outstanding student that performs excellently in both Common Entrance, WAEC/NECO, this is to motivate and spur others to do more.

*At the tertiary level, I shall provide renewed platform for science and technical education. An emphasis on technology and science courses.

*Vocational education would be on my priority list. We shall create such basic education centers in each of the local government, crafts and skills acquisition will be properly developed, sustained and harnessed. Mechanic, carpentry, fashion design, catering etc are some areas to be taught in such centers.

*Niger under my watch will lay emphasis on STEAM- approach to meet with global best practices. STEAM stands for- Science.Technology.Education.Art.Mathematics.

*An ICT Hub will be established in metropolitan Minna, as well as all zones where everyone, (Students and non students) would have access to information, and educative materials.


*Library has been an avenue and center for research and learning. We shall repackage, restock, renovate and make them functional.
Similarly, e-library will be developed, giving access to digitalized platforms.


*Mobility and access to some schools has been a major challenge, where we could not have a particular school located in a given area, or community, we shall provide free bus, transporting students to and fro. In other words, we take the schools to such inaccessible locations.

*Girl-child education will be prioritized. School age girls would be encouraged through sustained awareness. Provision of uniforms, books and other materials for learning shall be considered. And we shall not condone any form of violence against them.

* School of health sciences and midwifery shall be established in each of the Senatorial zone, to encourage particularly female,or Girl-child education.

*The Knotty issue of Almajiri school system shall be addressed. Because, it is a form of education too. We shall regulate the teaching and learning process. A teacher-training, and train- the-trainee mechanism shall be adopted. Age requirement for enrollment into the Tsangaya system shall be reviewed. Subjects like English and Mathematics would be included.

*Adult education and Mass literacy centers shall be created in each local government across the state.

* We shall constitute an independent tertiary, secondary and primary education board to supervise, develop and advise where necessary actionable plans to put Niger on the global spotlight as far as education is concerned.

While most of these educational policies are broad, paucity of funds are some aspect to consider, we shall create the "Niger Educational Trust Fund" to make it realistic. No amount expended on education would be too costly.

Individuals, corporate and private organizations shall make modest contribution as way of givings back to society.
We shall make Niger a role model in Education to the envy of other states.
I am a realist, politics and governance are public trust, I shall be held accountable someday to give account of my stewardship. My word is my Bond. You can take that to the bank.

Alhaji Ibrahim Yahaya Mohammed sokodede, is the NNPP flagbearer for Niger State in the upcoming 2023 gubernatorial elections