By Abbas Bamalli
The Emir of Daura, Alhaji Faruk Umar-Faruk, says Katsina State is not backward in terms of girl-child education as it is being perceived in some quarters.
The emir made the statement when he received members of Girl Education Project (GEP-3) who were on a follow- up visit to his palace on Wednesday in Daura.
The committee was set up to follow up efforts of traditional rulers in the state in promoting the GEP-3 project initiated by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and also how to sustain it.
According to Umar-Faruk, “It is not true that Katsina State is lagging behind in terms of education in the northern part of the country, especially the girl-child education.
He explained that “We are ahead of many states, contrary to what has been said, especially in the area of girl-child, we are giving more attention and we will continue to do so.
“There was a time we went to a meeting in Kaduna and Kano, for the northern traditional rulers and Katsina was mentioned among the states that were backward in education, especially that of the girl-child.
“It is not true, I believe it was said to scare us. But we thank God, it has given us more confidence and courage to strengthen our effort in that direction.
“There is no way Katsina can be backward in terms of education when the late Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello and the late Premier of Northern Nigeria schooled in Katsina.”
The emir said that Katsina State was committed to education, especially the education of female children, adding that the issue of backwardness was not true.
“We are always committed and ready for the development of the education sector in the state, and we will continue to give all the necessary support to the state government and other agencies.
“It is our responsibility to ensure the promotion of girl- child education and God willing, we will continue to render our service towards achieving that our female children go to school,’’ the emir assured.
In a similar visit to Katsina Emirate, the Emir of Katsina, Alhaji Abdulmuminu Kabir-Usman, commended the state government and UNICEF for their efforts towards improving education in the state.
Represented by the Yandakan Katsina, the District Head of Dutinsnma, Alhaji Sada Mohammed-Sada, the emir said he was always concerned about improving the girl- child education in the state.
He assured the group of more commitment by the emirate towards the promotion of education, with priority to girl-child education in Katsina.
In his remarks, the Secretary of the follow-up committee, Alhaji Kabiru Lawal-Ruma, said 535 public and 200 integrated Islamic schools were benefiting from the project across nine local government areas of the state.
He said that from there visit to the benefitting LGAs, they have observed improvement in the enrollment of the girl- child in schools.
According to him, the GEP-3 is funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and implemented by UNICEF. (NAN)
