Two years after being sworn into office, the Governor of Yobe state, Mai Mala Buni, has been untiringly creating, restructuring, and reshaping the education sector of the state, and his projects have taken Yobe to another great level of achieving excellence from the basic to the higher levels. The Buni administration has introduced various education plans, scholarship programmes, rehabilitation of school buildings, teachers’ welfare, among others.
The governor introduced an astonishing plan to build modern schools around the state. He began with the projects of model primary schools in Buni Yadi, Damaturu, Geidam, and Potiskum local government areas. The schools were built to modern academic standards. Each school has 48 well-furnished classrooms, 12 staff rooms, and a number of computers for E-learning and other facilities as a means of improving the education status of Yobe state.
However, Buni focuses on school feeding programme by disbursing billions of naira to support the students’ meals, with the aim of encouraging children to be punctual and concentrate on their studies. It also serves as an incentive to attract out-of-school children to get enrolled in school. The school feeding programme has helped thousands of pupils fight malnutrition and drastically reduced the number of out-of-school children in the state, if not totally eliminated it.
However, the governor carefully looks after the welfare of teachers by ensuring regular payment of their salaries and promoting them based on their dedication. Most of the teachers from the public schools under the current administration have expressed joy over the receipt of adequate welfare, which encourages them to teach the pupils diligently. The governor’s performance on promotion is another key role in revamping education in Yobe because every staff member has equal treatment.
Unquestionably, the Buni administration went ahead with renovating schools, from basic to higher institutions. The projects commenced across the local government areas of Yobe state, which has led to rehabilitation of the most dilapidated buildings, learning facilities, accommodation, and other academic amenities needed to carry out the educational programmes.
Basic education has benefited from the rebuilding and transformation of school projects and from looking after the well-being of teachers. Most of the schools with old buildings and dire needs of facilities benefited from the rebuilding projects all over the state. The teaching materials were also provided with enough space in the buildings to accommodate thousands of students, essentially to develop education in Yobe state.
The idea of reforming schools by the Buni administration is to change the system of education in Yobe and to bring about a new development policy of drawing back the minds of young children and their parents to get them enrolled in schools with a standard of teaching and learning for a better future.
At the higher levels, the governor has displayed an unbeatable performance in various institutions of the state. He provides new departmental buildings in Yobe State University, construction of laboratory rooms, lecture rooms, and roads in Shehu Sule College of Nursing and Midwifery, Damaturu, and similar projects.
Furthermore, scholarships were awarded by the governor to 233 indigenous students of Yobe state to Glocal University in India, alongside other countries such as Russia, England, and others. The scholarship programme is to promote the system of education in Yobe state and acquire professional courses for helping people.
In a nutshell, I implore the governor to not relent or be dissuaded from what he has been doing towards the advancement of the Yobe education sector. It’s our hope and belief that Buni’s education transformation will help the state achieve unprecedented success in building a promising Yobe state.
Muhammad writes from Damaturu, Yobe state via [email protected]
