…unveils campus ambassadors in 25 Kano institutions

By Gabriel Ewepu

ABUJA– AHEAD of 2027 general elections, a group called the JAGABA/ABBA Students’ Mandate 2027, Kano State Chapter, has launched its Campus Ambassadors initiative across 25 tertiary institutions in the state, mobilising students in support of the re-election bids of President Bola Tinubu and Kano State Governor, Abba Yusuf.

The initiative, according to the group, is aimed at building a structured student network across tertiary institutions to engage students, organise campus discussions and highlight what it described as the educational achievements of the Tinubu and Abba administrations.

Speaking at the launch, Convener of the group, Comrade Nafiu Yunusa, said the initiative was a strategic move to mobilise Kano’s student population and deepen awareness of what the group described as the achievements of the two administrations in the education sector.

Yunusa said the group’s support for Tinubu and Abba was anchored on what it described as “tangible achievements” in education at both the federal and state levels.

He said: “We are here today to launch a movement driven by results, not rhetoric. The Renewed Hope Agenda of President Tinubu and the visionary leadership of Governor Abba have transformed the educational landscape of our state and nation.

“Our campus ambassadors will take this message of progress to every lecture hall, hostel and campus in Kano.”

According to the group, one of the major drivers of its support for President Tinubu is the administration’s education policies, particularly the Nigeria Education Loan Fund, NELFUND, student loan scheme.

The group claimed that more than 1.6 million applications had been processed as of August 2026, with over N322 billion disbursed to students in universities, polytechnics, colleges of education and vocational institutions.

It also cited investments in technical and vocational education and training, TVET, including plans to train more than one million youths across 1,600 centres, alongside tuition support, stipends and starter packs.

Other initiatives attributed by the group to the Federal Government include an agreement with the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU; infrastructure projects funded through the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFund; research and innovation grants; and institutional upgrades in Kano.

The group also cited the conversion of the Federal College of Education, Kano, to the Yusuf Maitama Sule Federal University of Education, Kano, as well as the proposed upgrade of the Federal Polytechnic, Kabo, to a university of technology.

Meanwhile, Yunusa said the group was also backing Governor Abba on the strength of what it described as far-reaching interventions by the Kano State Government in the education sector.

According to him, the administration declared a state of emergency in education and allocated between 30 and 31 per cent of the state budget to the sector in 2024, 2025 and 2026.

He said the administration had also implemented free education from primary to secondary school level, reduced tuition fees by 50 per cent across state-owned tertiary institutions and paid NECO and NABTEB examination fees for thousands of students.

He further claimed that the government had recruited more than 14,000 permanent teachers, including 6,000 new teachers, absorbed 2,000 BESDA volunteers, added 4,315 BESDA teachers in September 2025, recruited 400 mathematics teachers and engaged 1,600 school guards.

On infrastructure, he said primary school classrooms had been renovated across the 44 local government areas, with new classroom complexes constructed and 80,000 three-seater desks supplied.

According to him, the intervention helped address the situation where about 240,000 pupils had previously been forced to sit on bare floors.

He added that the administration had reopened girls’ boarding schools shut by the previous administration and provided free buses to transport female students to school as part of efforts to promote girl-child education.

Yunusa also cited the revival of foreign postgraduate scholarships, claiming that more than 2,000 Kano students had been sponsored for Master’s and PhD programmes abroad.

He further claimed that Kano emerged as the best-performing state in Nigeria in the 2025 NECO examinations, saying the feat was commended by the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa.

The newly inaugurated Campus Ambassadors were charged with mobilising students at the grassroots, promoting voter education and communicating the policies and achievements attributed by the group to the Tinubu and Abba administrations.

Yunusa said the initiative would also provide a platform for students to engage with issues affecting education and communicate their interests ahead of the 2027 elections.

He said: “The future of our education depends on continuity. We cannot afford to return to a past where education was neglected.

“The JAGABA/ABBA Students’ Mandate 2027 is committed to ensuring that the voices of Kano students are heard and their interests protected.”