Tambuwal’s Roadmap And Success Story for Revamping Quality Education in Sokoto

As states continue to review their policy framework on education, the Sokoto government appears to be expanding the frontiers of the sector with evidence-based quality and standardised education. Uchechukwu Nnaike reports

Following the needs assessment recently carried out in Sokoto, a major part of the outcome centred on the policy framework in revamping the state’s education system and how that is linked to human development initiatives. This seems to offer hope for change.
Considering how policy framework in the education sector feeds into human development, particularly in a Sokoto, stakeholders believe Sokoto has the potential to bridge the gender gap in access to quality education and strengthen the framework for improved education.
A major stake and objective of the state’s new education system are built around policy with viable outcomes, including one that matches quality response to the development crisis in northern Nigeria. This can also transcend the national development indices of Nigeria. This objective sees education in a multidisciplinary approach, one that not only improves human capital but will add to indices of development in a broader context.
Since Governor Aminu Tambuwal assumed office in 2015, remarkable achievements have been recorded, as witnessed in the state in recent times. These improvements are direct consequences of his policy choices, matched with diligent implementation. The policy framework for education in Sokoto State under Tambuwal connects education not just to grooming and capacity building, but that which intersects with the state economy and its aspirations for infrastructural development.
The governor said there is a nexus between Nigeria’s current crisis and the poor quality of education received or even its lack.
In a recent media briefing, he explained that “quality education is needed to address challenges of insecurity, poverty and even raising the standard of living of people.” Tambuwal maintained that the gulf in lack of education both in the western and religious sense is responsible for the current conflict and could be linked to the rise of terrorism in the region.
Due to the deplorable education indices in Sokoto in 2015, he promptly declared a state of emergency in the state’s education sector in December of that year.
While outlining the import of Sokoto’s educational policy, Tambuwal harped on funding as a key component in revamping the sector. He stated that in “pursuant to our policy of a state of emergency on education since 2015, when we first came on board, and in the current dispensation from 2019 to date, our budgetary allocation to education has never fallen below 25 per cent. “In 2026, we had a whopping 29 per cent allocation to education, about the UNESCO benchmark, and ever since, we have maintained the tempo by ensuring sustained funding for the education sector,” the governor stated.
He further stressed that the idea of resetting the state’s educational policy was not just hinged on introducing new policies but programmes that will have a ripple effect across the state and to a larger population.
Tambuwal argued that the unprecedented expansion is meant to provide access to education, particularly in the rural areas and disadvantaged groups. The governor’s first step to bringing more innovation and standardization into the state’s education system was to work on up-to-date legislation that would enable improvements in the sector.
To that end, in 2016, the Right to Education Bill, 2016 was signed into law, where the bill made education a justiciable right and made it illegal for children to be out of school by the actions of their parents. Thus, the idea was not just about legislation. There was also the need to provide an enabling environment for education to thrive in Sokoto State.
This compelled the Sokoto government to embark on massive school renovation and building of special schools to effect the Right to Education law. The new policy also requires the handing over of the renovated schools to the local government councils to manage while the state provides the funding, making the local governments accountable for the success or failure of the law. Also, between 2016 and 2019, two junior secondary schools were built per LGA in all 23 local government areas in the state. Also, four junior secondary schools were built in the state capital.
In furtherance of the new government policy, this was followed by the renovation of 1,500 primary schools across the state and 180 junior secondary schools, which are over 70 per cent completed. The Tambuwal administration also ensured that the annual budgetary allocation to education is not below 26 per cent, above the UNESCO benchmark of 15- 20 per cent. This has led to over 600,000 children enrolled in school since 2016, with a consistent rise in the number of children getting back to school. Most importantly, Tambuwal’s administration has also focused on getting more girls into school, improving the lives and chances of women within the state.
Strategically, between 2016 and 2017, there was a 4.4 per cent increase in the enrolment of girls into primary schools. This has also made the state government set up an Agency for Girl Child Education that focuses on getting more girls into school by engaging with their parents and communities on the importance of educating the girl-child.
In line with the combination of the state government and community enlightenment and cash-backed incentives, there has been a corresponding massive rise in the enrolment of girls into schools across the state.
The remarkable enrolment of girls into schools has seen the government take matching actions by constructing more girls-only schools across the 23 local government areas and a government science senior secondary school built in grand style across the three senatorial districts. This policy will allow direct entry for girls who graduate from junior secondary schools within the state and properly prepare to pursue science and technology-oriented courses in tertiary education. This informs the establishment of the Government Girls Science Secondary School.
Many gaps have been closed, and more will be celebrated in due course, the government assured. But a look from 2012 indicated that the number of girls enrolled in junior secondary schools within the state stood at 22,021, and by 2016, the number moved significantly to 71,132. Enrolment into senior secondary schools also witnessed an increase from the numbers in 2014, which stood at 22,755 and moved to 27,004 in 2017. Recognising that early marriage is a setback to girls’ school enrolment, in November 2021, 18 years after the passage of the Child Rights Act 2003, the Sokoto State Government joined the rest of Nigeria in domesticating the Child Rights Act. Tambuwal achieved this feat after nearly six years of painstaking and strategic engagement with stakeholders. These remarkable indicators remain a testimony in the most conservative part of northern Nigeria, the seat of the Caliphate.
In addition, Tambuwal is constructing one of the best state universities in Nigeria that will change the face of university education in northern Nigeria. The new university located in Sokoto metropolis, when completed, will cater for several multidisciplinary courses from sciences, digital technology, humanities, arts and social sciences, and will reset tertiary education to a more advanced level beyond the obsolete system currently in place.
Going by its architectural design, the new structure will redefine the state’s educational system in various ways.
It is safe to say that there is a sense in which Sokoto’s collective effort in revamping the education sector fits into the new narrative and multisectoral policy of changing the dynamics of the state for the better.
From enacting legislation that will create a conducive atmosphere that can breach the gender gap in school enrolment to funding, policy implementation, and the practical approach to advance quality, Tambuwal’s governance template remains effective in addressing challenges of education in the north and even across the country.
This supportive evidence that signposts Tambuwal’s hard work on education will in the future define his legacy in Sokoto State.
The fact that the policies in place are not just meant to railroad disadvantaged children to schools but to foster a strong bond in human capital development appears to make the difference. In his ability to change the narrative in Sokoto with regards to education, Tambuwal has proven his capacity to lead. And his understanding of the challenges of the 21st century and how to resolve them is indicative of his leadership acumen in contemporary Nigeria. With education, Tambuwal understands leading a nation to greatness. In essence, education is the key.