Former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC),
has been appointed to head an advisory committee that will revive the
educational sector in Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara states of North-West
Nigeria.
Jega, who heads from Kebbi State, will work with six other professors from
the zone and will advise Governors of the three states on how to fix the
myriad of problems facing the sector, especially at the tertiary education
level.
Presenting a report of the committee Saturday night in Sokoto to Governors
Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, Abdulaziz Yari and Abubakar Bagudu of Sokoto,
Zamfara and Kebbi respectively, Jega said time has come for all
stakeholders in the three states to close rank and collectively face the
challenges together.
He said that there was the need to reposition institutions of higher
learning in the three states that made up the old Sokoto State to enable
them operate according to their core mandates.
Jega among other recommendations stressed the need for improved funding of
the institutions, reinvigorated training and promotion of exchange
programmes among institutions in the three states.
The committee also advised the three states to establish a joint Education
Tax Fund in the mould of the Federal Government-funded TETFUND and revive
the former remedial school to be established in one of the states to
prepare students for higher studies.
Receiving the report on behalf of his colleagues, Gov Yari of said even
though Sokoto had already declared a state of emergency on education in
education, both Zamfara and Kebbi will follow suit.
He said that the three Governors would liaise with their various state
Houses of Assembly and Commissioners of Justice to review the laws that
established the institutions.
“We will pass the recommendations to the Attorney-Generals to look into
them, with a view to review these laws. We will also strive to formulate
all the requisite policies to make these higher educational institutions
function effectively.
“We will also allocate nothing less than 35 per cent of our annual budgets
to the education sector,” he added.
The five other members of the committee include former Vice Chancellors of
Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Prof. Riskuwa Shehu and Prof. Tijjani
Bande. The rest are Professors Zayyanu Umar, Lawal Bilbis and Umar Chafe