By Ibrahim Hassan-Wuyo  

Kaduna State Governor, Senator Uba Sani, has   held a high-level meeting with the Director General of the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED), Dr. Waleed Al-Bahar, in Kuwait City, where both sides reviewed progress on the State’s flagship Reaching Out-of-School Children (ROOSC) Programme and explored new areas of development cooperation.

The governor, who led a Kaduna State delegation to the Fund’s headquarters, expressed appreciation for the Kuwait Fund’s continued support, describing the ROOSC initiative as a “transformative lifeline” for thousands of children previously excluded from schooling.

The $62.8 million programme is jointly financed by the Kuwait Fund, Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), Global Partnership for Education (GPE), Education Above All (EAA), and Save the Children International. It targets more than 100,000 out-of-school children and is expected to directly benefit over 1.2 million learners across the state’s 23 local government areas.

Senator Sani briefed the KFAED leadership on key milestones recorded so far, including the identification and mapping of 79,275 out-of-school children across 14 LGAs, enrollment of 13,756 learners—surpassing the Year One target of 10,000—training of 1,300 teachers, and distribution of over 35,000 learning kits.

He also disclosed that rehabilitation work is ongoing in 170 schools while 102 new school structures are under construction, adding that Kaduna State is “fully prepared to accelerate implementation once the next phase of disbursements is released.”

According to the governor, “every additional week gained in implementation brings more children into safe, modern and quality learning environments.”

Beyond education, the meeting also discussed Kaduna State’s new proposals for collaboration. These include plans to upgrade and solarise between 255 and 500 Primary Healthcare Centres, expand rural road networks, electrification, water and sanitation systems, and intensify agricultural modernisation through mechanisation, irrigation systems, processing hubs, and youth and women agribusiness programmes.

Dr. Waleed Al-Bahar commended Kaduna’s transparency, reform-driven governance, and commitment to inclusive development. He noted that Kaduna remains the first Nigerian state to benefit from Kuwait Fund financing and welcomed the new proposals for potential funding.

Other senior officials present at the meeting included Thamer Alfailakawi, Director of Operations; Khaled Salah Al-Marzouq, Project Coordinator for West Africa; and Rawya Alawadhi, Project Engineer.

Both sides closed the meeting with a renewed commitment to fast-track ongoing projects and expand cooperation across health, agriculture, and infrastructure to “improve the lives of millions of Kaduna residents.”

Vanguard News