Jega heads education committee of 3 northern states

Attahiru Jega, former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has been appointed as head of an advisory education committee in Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara states.

Imam Imam, spokesman of Aminu Tambuwal, Sokoto state governor, disclosed this in a statement issued on Sunday.

The statement said the committee is expected to advise governors of the three states on how to fix the myriad of problems facing the educational sector.

The committee will 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.

According to Imam, Jega presented a report to Tambuwal, Abdulaziz Yari, governor of Sokoto and Abubakar Bagudu of Kebbi on Saturday.

The former INEC chair was quoted as telling the three states to close rank and face the challenges collectively.

“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,” the statement read.

“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.”

Yari, who received the committee’s report on behalf of his colleagues, said though Sokoto had declared a state of emergency on education, Zamfara and Kebbi will soon follow suit.

He said 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,” he said.

“We will also allocate nothing less than 35 per cent of our annual budgets to the education sector.”

The five other members of the committee are Riskuwa Shehu, Tijjani Bande, former vice chancellors of Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Zayyanu Umar, Lawal Bilbis and Umar Chafe.