By Abdallah el-Kurebe
Governor Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto state on Monday advocated for the complete repositioning of Nigeria’s educational system towards efficiency, effectiveness and globally competitiveness when he received Group 3, Course 37 of the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, Jos in Sokoto.
He added however that the repositioning should be devoid of sentiments. “This should be guiding principles in formulating and implementing the educational policies and programmes. In which case they would be more sustainable, plausible and workable, thereby strengthening our education sector,” he said.
Wamakko said his background as a trained teacher and wealth of experience in government, “which span 43 years motivated me to prioritize the education sector.”
He stressed that his administration had since 2007, been allocating lion share of its annual budget to the sector; abolished school fees; made education free; increased scholarship and feeding allowances by one hundred per cent; built, rehabilitated and expanded various primary, secondary and tertiary institutions in the state.
Wamakko said that the study tour would enable them to be abreast with the realities on the ground across Nigeria.
“NIPSS has been playing crucial roles in terms of conducting researches in various fields of human endevaour in the country. Such researches come out with recommendations on where Nigeria should go and how it can be there,” he stressed.
Earlier, the Team Leader who is also NIPSS’ Director of Research, Prof. Abu Galadima told Wamakko that the members were in the state as part of their annual study tours of Nigeria.
“The 2015 theme of the tour is: Repositioning Nigeria’s Educational Systems for Global Competitiveness. Sokoto is a historical city and the seat of the Caliphate, and the achievements recorded by Wamakko’s administration in the last eight years are unequaled,” Galadima said.
