Governor Ahmad is clear about what he wants to achieve in Sokoto’s education sector – Abdullahi

The Commissioner for Higher Education in Sokoto State, Aminu Abdullahi, is the Iya Sokoto; a highly respected titleholder of the Sultanate. Before his appointment by Governor Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto, he had served as the Accountant General of the state for nine years. He was also at various times the Permanent Secretary in the Ministries of Environment and Animal Health. In this interview with MURTALA ADEWALE, he speaks on the efforts of the ministry in rebuilding the higher education sector, which in his words was in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) throughout the eight years of former Governor Aminu Tambuwal’s administration. Excerpts:

How exciting has your assignment as the Commissioner Higher Education Sokoto State been?
Without thinking twice about it, I would say that it has been a wonderful experience superintending over this critical sector. I am indeed very grateful that I’m contributing my quota to ensuring that Sokoto State children receive qualitative education. And when you work with a governor that is wholeheartedly committed to the development of education and that is supportive, that definitely makes your assignment less stressful.

Before we go far into the interview, I think it’s important that I explain the difference between the ministries of Higher Education, Science and Technology and Basic, which in a sense shows the importance the governor attaches to the educational sector. The first reason for the creation of the three separate ministries is because the governor wants an effective supervision of the educational sector, which by the way is huge. So, in Sokoto State like some other states, we have three ministries- basic and secondary, science and technology and higher education. We might be three ministries but we collaborate because we are dealing with essentially the same raw materials or if you like we are in a sense like the three arms of government – the executive, the legislature and the judiciary; though distinct we must work harmoniously to deliver development to the people.

So, the Ministry of Higher Education is solely concerned with tertiary education – the institutions of higher learning that offer different courses to students after their secondary level of education. We have Diploma, Certificate and Degree Awarding Institutions under the ministry numbering about 10. But at the recent State Executive Council meeting, the Council in its wisdom took the decision to return the School of Nursing to the Ministry of Health and the School of Legal Studies to the Ministry of Justice, for more effective supervision. The fact is that these five tertiary institutions were transferred to their mother ministries in line with the laws establishing them. Only God knows why the previous administration decided to put them under the Ministry of Higher Education. We equally have 20 privately owned tertiary institutions in Sokoto State that are also under our supervision only because the government doesn’t fund them like it funds its own schools.

Like every other sector, when this administration assumed office, things were at different levels of decay and the educational sector wasn’t spared which is most unfortunate. The handover note that officials of the ministry put together for me was depressing because the situation in all our institutions was alarming. The morale of the workers was expectedly low because their courses were not accredited and they were not paid their teaching incentives. For instance, the state university was without power for more than three years. Most of the lecture theatres were in a state of dilapidation.

On assumption of office, Governor Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto instantly instructed the Kaduna Power Company to restore power immediately to the university and the other institutions after reaching an agreement with them on payment of the backlog. That singular act elicited wild jubilation and confirmed that a Daniel has indeed come to judgment. I am ashamed talking about what Sokoto State suffered in the hands of Aminu Tambuwal, a man who at one time was the number four citizen and who could have been president in line with the constitutional succession process and who on his own had attempted being the president of our dear country twice.

Governor Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto has shown by words and actions that his commitment to the development of education is not political, that he in fact means his campaign promise to revamp the education sector. He has paid all outstanding salaries, including the teaching allowances and rehabilitated dilapidated infrastructures in our higher institutions. If you visit them you will find an environment that is conducive for learning. We can’t be blaming the students for poor performance when we haven’t provided them with the necessary tools and environment to study. The situation we met was terrible. We have equally gotten most courses being run by the institutions accredited under one year. How on earth can any institution worth its salt run unaccredited courses? It certainly amounted to a sheer waste of everybody’s time, especially that of the students. Thankfully, the examination bodies have shown an understanding, which has gone a long way in resolving the issues. The governor has approved the payment of accreditation fees to the various bodies like the National Universities Commission (NUC) and the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE). He has in all sincerity restored the hope of these students that was dashed by the past administration. As a mark of his commitment, there is no memo from this ministry seeking his intervention on any urgent matter that hasn’t received his prompt response. He understands the importance of education and is determined to change the narrative.

About the separation of education into three ministries – Basic and Secondary, Higher Education, and Science and Technology – you used the executive, judiciary and legislature to make an example. But is the creation of three separate ministries not a confirmation that the sector has serious challenges and that the burden of running the tertiary institutions, for instance, is already enough for you?
It’s important that I make the point that the governor is well guided in his decision to create the three ministries. It’s backed by the decision of the National Council of Education, which is the highest policy making body on education in Nigeria on the separation of the ministries for effective supervision. It is a national policy; the governor could have chosen to ignore it but being a firm believer in the rule of law and convinced that it is the right decision, he decided to go along with it wholeheartedly because it serves his purpose of the sector being vigorously supervised.

So each of them is challenging?
Most certainly they each have their peculiar challenges.

Specifically speaking, which of the institutions were their courses unaccredited until the governor assumed office?
The courses that were not accredited cut across the various departments of the schools. For instance, some science courses were not accredited same with some social science courses depending on the school. The most important point is that we have solved a problem, which was why the governor was elected. He saw problems and offered himself to solve them. That’s the mentality of the governor. While he believes in accountability, he equally believes that the misdeeds of the past shouldn’t be an excuse or hold us back and every appointee understands this fact.

You’ve also talked about rehabilitation. Do you have an idea of the total amount spent so far on the rehabilitation exercise?
We have spent good money on the rehabilitation of dilapidated structures in our institutions to; about N3 billion to date.
I want to take you back to the accreditation issue. Can you give me an idea of the total cost of what was spent?

For accreditation the cost is huge. For some courses we paid N35 million and for others N70 million; it depended on the course. Thankfully, accreditation is once in five years so we have some breathing space. So far, virtually all our institutions have had their courses accredited and the cost is running into millions of naira. Some few months back we paid the NUC about N100 million for courses being run at the State University and they were very impressed with our governor for his efforts in running a university that is truly a centre of learning and research. In fact, they followed up with a letter of appreciation to the governor. The governor on his part is extremely happy because he is seeing light at the end of the tunnel. I can tell you for free that the university surpassed the NUC conditions, and that we didn’t cut corners; we adhered to their guidelines.

Were the heads of these institutions satisfied parading themselves as rectors and provosts when their schools were running unaccredited courses? Did you sack them when you came in?
According to the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2007, which aims at ensuring the prudent management of resources and promoting transparency and accountability, if a public officer steals money, he would be charged to a court of law and tried. Also, according to that same law, if an officer commits an irresponsible act he or she is liable for persecution. But it wasn’t their fault that the Aminu Tambuwal administration refused to accredit the courses their schools were running. They didn’t commit a deliberate and irresponsible act because they kept drawing the attention of the government to the problem and there is overwhelming evidence. So, it would have been heartless sacking them for a crime that they didn’t commit.

So why didn’t the previous administration pay for the accreditation of these courses?
I wish I could provide you with the answer considering the importance of our schools running courses that are accredited. It certainly beats my imagination why they didn’t. I’m not saying this to paint the previous administration in bad light but just to put the facts before the public and nothing more. The governor has since moved on from what they didn’t do to doing them. Sokoto State is lucky to have a calm and dedicated governor after the disastrous eight years of Aminu Tambuwal.

Considering the premium placed on education by the governor, how well has he funded education. Does his budgeting allocation to education meet the UNESCO standard of 25 per cent?
I want to recall that in November 2023, several countries under the auspices of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) adopted the recommendation on education for peace and human rights, international understanding, cooperation, fundamental freedoms, global citizenship and sustainable development. Today, UNESCO remains the only global standard-setting instrument that lays out how education can and should be used to bring about lasting peace and sustainable development and in positioning education as a key driver of peace and international understanding.

Education in the 2024 budget was allocated the highest percentage and in 2025 it has equally maintained its number one position in terms of budgetary allocation. Sokoto State in the last two years has in fact surpassed the UNESCO budget recommendation. And what does this say about Governor Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto’s unwavering commitment to education? It no doubt clears whatever doubt about his desire to rewrite the ugly story of education in the state. As a professional accountant, I prefer to talk more in terms of releases because you can be allocated a fantastic budget without it being cash backed. So we say thank you to the governor for not only allocating funds to education, but for his express approvals and for cash backing them. Our modest achievements are due to his leadership and support.

What’s the mandate of your Ministry?
Our mandate and responsibilities include policy formulation for higher education and recommending same to the governor, who in the case of the university is the Visitor; carrying out needs assessment to determine the state’s needs in higher education in both public and private institutions. We also advice the government on the appointment of heads of the various institutions working in collaboration with their governing bodies. The other critical responsibility is in assisting the various tertiary institutions with accreditation from the relevant bodies. We also have the mandate to establish linkage programmes with other institutions of higher learning. And in the area of preparing and implementing an annual budget, the revenue and expenditure of state tertiary institutions, monitoring is critical. So, we also carry out a rigorous monitoring exercise to ensure that they are performing the functions why they were established. And finally, overseeing the disbursement of scholarships to state indigenes in higher learning institutions. We produce Performance Reports to the governor, who is interested in knowing the progress being recorded.

Talking about mandate now, and the ministry in charge of Basic Education, is there a synergy between the Higher Education Ministry and the Basic Education. Secondly, as you know in Northern Nigeria we have large number of out of school children what’s the way out. What is Sokoto State doing?
There is a close collaboration between the three ministries. About the out-of-school children, it’s a challenge but I can assure you that we are addressing it on all fronts. To some extent the Nigerian culture of marrying many wives and having many children is partly responsible for the problem. But things are beginning to change. I’m glad because in the past only the few of us went to school, but now there is no household that you will not find with students in higher institutions. Education would help people understand the importance of producing children they can cater for. Meanwhile, we would continue to deploy policies that would help address the problem.

In the light of the economic situation, many states have been forced to increase fees in their institutions. So should your students expect an increase in fees and wouldn’t it affect enrollment?
You know the story of Sokoto State. We remain eternally grateful to our father who by the way was my teacher and leader, Senator Aliyu Magatarda Wamakko, for laying a solid foundation for our educational system using his experience as an educationist. As governor of Sokoto State, he put in a place several fundamental policies; free and compulsory education; he encouraged girl child education and so many other policies. We certainly won’t be increasing fees rather we would continue to encourage our students with incentives like scholarships to pursue their education to the highest level. The robust policies of Governor Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto have continued to attract more students to enroll into schools in the state and abroad. In fact, enrollment has increased and very interesting is the fact that students have stopped skipping school. We have achieved all these due to the policy of the governor who understands the importance of education and is walking the talk. The previous government had for inexplicable reasons stopped the stipends and other privileges of the students, which the governor immediately restored.

Are you able to meet up with your services to the schools like electricity, water, and the other basic things that an institution needs to function effectively?
Yes. It’s important I make this additional point. In Sokoto State, none indigenes are treated as indigenes; they don’t pay school fees and the government doesn’t exclude them when it is paying examination fees. Once you are resident in Sokoto State you are automatically an indigene of the state; you pay the fees that the indigenes are paying.

Back to your question, the Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto administration understands that schools must be well funded. From next year the governor has directed that schools would be given N200,000 monthly allowance to meet minor expenses, which would help them face desks, repairs of toilets etc. So, this is a government that understands its responsibility to its schools and indeed all government departments. You must also be aware of the efforts of the governor in ensuring the availability of water 24/7 in the state.

I am not too sure about other states allocation for education meeting the UNESCO standard. But what is the relationship between your state, UNESCO and other development partners?
The interesting thing about development partners is that they only come in when they see what you are doing. It’s only when they see your seriousness and enthusiasm that they would partner with you. Our budget outlook, which is friendly, attracted them. We actually have a synergy with them and several other projects with different development partners. UNESCO that you mentioned earlier linked us up with other partners because they are impressed with what we are doing. They are facilitating and augmenting what the government is doing. So we are happy with the relationship.

Are there specific interventions in the area of girl-child education?
Yes. But that is in Basic and Secondary Education. It would be great if you equally interview the commissioner in charge of the ministry.

To what extent has your State University benefited from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund)?
The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) was established by the Federal Government of Nigeria in its farsighted wisdom in 2011 to disburse, manage, and monitor education tax to government-owned tertiary institutions. You know that before the establishment of the agency in 2011, government-owned tertiary institutions were poorly funded; so the scheme was designed to address the crisis in the sector through its interventions especially in the area of facilities where the decay was monumental. In fact, facilities in most schools had almost collapsed; the morale of teachers and lecturers were at their lowest. The enabling environment for teaching and learning was absent. So the government took this step to arrest the rot.

This background is important so we can appreciate the seriousness of the situation and why the agency was set up. TETFund’s interventions are only for the universities. Primary schools have the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) that is saddled with the responsibility of providing greater access to, and ensuring quality of basic education throughout the country. The Universal Basic Education Programme was introduced in 1999 by the Federal Government of Nigeria to also address the rot in the sector.

So has the Sokoto State University benefited from its intervention(s)?
Each year TETFund intervenes based on specific requests of the concerned institution. They don’t decide for you, because you know what you need most. For example, if we need a laboratory, we will spell out our specific needs to TETFund and they would react appropriately. So they can’t come and build hostels for us when what we need is a lecture hall or ICT facilities. Our schools have well equipped hostels; we have beds so we don’t need them, so we can’t ask them to buy beds that we have. So the answer is a big yes. The state university has tremendously benefited from the intervention of the Fund in various areas.

Let’s talk about the Nine-point Smart Agenda of Governor Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto. Exactly what does the governor want to achieve with his investment in education?
Governor Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto is absolutely clear about what he wants to achieve in education, which is development of human capital that’s important to the development of the state. The governor is driving the economic development of the state, so it’s important that we have indigenes that are skilled to work in the industries he is attracting. We recently graduated 80 medical doctors and being our citizens they can operate better in our environment because they understand the language and culture of the people. He sees education as both a social and economic investment. An educated person would easily understand the need to pay his/her tax and to be law abiding.

The governor means business with his well thought out Nine-point Smart Agenda. In housing, he has delivered. He was recently crowned the Urban and Housing-Friendly Governor of the Year 2024 in recognition of his achievements in the sector. It’s not a joke to deliver 1,000 housing units under two years. In the area of legal reforms he has equally done well. During our last State Executive Council meeting, the Secretary to the State Government announced the execution of over 180 projects that have been completed in the last one and half years. The governor is a serious minded person; he won’t fail himself, his father, Senator Aliyu Magatarda Wamakko or the people who have stood solidly behind him.

Are your institutions of higher learning running entrepreneurship courses or curriculum is still geared towards the continued production of public servants?
The National Policy on Education introduced entrepreneurship into the curriculum of higher institutions. In 2000, the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) and the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) partnered to incorporate Entrepreneurship Education (EEd) into Technical and Vocational Education (TVE) curricula. The main goals of entrepreneurship education in Nigeria include preparing the students to be self-reliant and self-employed, creating employment opportunities, helping students to transition from a traditional economy to a modern industrial economy, training students to be creative and innovative in identifying business opportunities and to establish careers in small and medium-sized businesses. In Sokoto State, our tertiary institutions have embraced the entrepreneurial message. I understand that even at the Secondary School Level the students are being thought entrepreneurship. This is the way to go because government has a limited capacity to create jobs.

What are the critical projects that are captured in the budget that you intend to complete this year?
Like I said earlier, the governor has been very generous in approving our projects and providing the necessary funds. In the year ending we have executed over 30 impactful projects worth over N3 billion spread across the various tertiary institutions.