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MY VISITATION TO STAKEHOLDERS IS TO SEE HOW WE CAN EXPAND THE SCOPE OF GIRL-CHILD EDUCATION IN ZAMFARA

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    SATURDAY’S INTERVIEW


By Managing Editor
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Mrs Amina Ahmad Abubakar is the newly appointed Executive secretary of the Zamfara State Female Education Board, until her appointment, she had a stint as DG Rugga project an Initiative of Governor Muhammad Bello Matawalle’s administration. She was a primary school teacher for decades and later secured an appointment as a lecturer at the Zamfara State college of Arts and science (ZACAS) Gusau, currently a PhD student at the prestigious Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. This week she had a chat with Managing Editor Thunder Blowers, Where she shared her perspectives on her new role as Executive secretary, how she intends to match the responsibility with corresponding sterling results.
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“If I can have my way as Executive secretary Zamfara State Female Education Board, I will ensure that every school age child is picked off the street(s) and enrolled into the formal school system because I’m disturbed to move on the street and see small girls going about hawking during school hours For I know it is not the best even for the sake of minimizing immorality in our society. I would work harder to actualize this dream”
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YOU HAVE BEEN APPOINTED BY GOV. BELLO MATAWALLE AS THE EXECUTIVE SECRETARY OF ZAMFARA FEMALE EDUCATION BOARD HOW DO YOU INTEND TO HANDLE THIS RESPONSIBILITY?

Honestly, I feel highly challenged given the fact that, the education sector in the contemporary world is highly demanding (especially Girl-Child education) and coupled with the economic hardship encountered by states world over.

As a trained teacher and educational administrator I know the level of crisis education is facing in Zamfara State an I am quite aware of what the administration of His Excellency Bello Matawalle has done to rescue the system and I feel my appointment to head the Zamfara State Female Education Board was done carefully in consideration of my wealth of experience in this regard, even though I know there are others that are far better than me.

DID YOU MEET THE SYSTEM AT THE BOARD AS ANTICIPATED?

Actually the challenges are enormous, even if one does not work in the sector he/she will know that the crises in the education sector is so overwhelming.

But to some extent I am impressed with the Initiative of the Executive Governor as he has done a lot and I think with the foundation he has made, I will build upon it to Initiate reforms that would complement the efforts of the Governor in making education sound, especially Girl-Child education in Zamfara State.

I have plans and I’m pleased to meet capable people at the Board, what is important for me is to meet with them and table these plans and begin to roll them one-by-one and by the special will of Allah we shall be able to make a difference and the Executive Governor and indeed parents/guardians will be proud of us.

WHAT IS YOUR DREAM ABOUT GIRL-CHILD EDUCATION IN ZAMFARA STATE?

I have a big dream for this education subsector and I believe when our many demands on the government are met we will do all that is possible to push and make sure that the desired reforms are made so that Girl -child education is moved forward in the state.

But the first important thing I want to champion is to boost the enrollment -drive of Girl -child education and also develop multiple strategies for their retention.

So, the task ahead of us is a heavy one but for sure we are going to engage the stakeholders in making sure that we have raised the flag of Girl -child education higher in Zamfara State and I’m confident that the executive Governor will surely support me in this regard.

WE HAVE NOTICED YOU HAVE RECENTLY CONDUCTED INSPECTION VISIT TO SOME FEMALE SCHOOLS UNDER YOUR BOARD, CAN WE KNOW THE WISDOM BEHIND THIS VISIT?

As someone who is new to the Board , i need to familiarise myself with the actors and machineries that matter in the management of the Board. I also want to see the condition of the schools under my charge as well as the teachers and indeed the students. This will assist me in planning and also for me to understand those that have the requisite capacity to come closer to me and those whose experiences are much needed at the level of school management.

We need to do assessment of manpower and fix the right people in the right places so that the board can make progress. My visitation had exposed me to understand many things and in the shortest possible time we are going to unveil our plans and by the special grace of Allah I will make the Executive Governor who appointed me happy.

WE HAVE ALSO SEEN YOU AT THE SCHOOL FOR CONTINUING EDUCATION IN GUSAU AND DURING YOUR VISIT CRITICAL ISSUES WERE RAISED BY THE MANAGEMENT OF THE SCHOOL, CAN YOU HIGHLIGHT MORE ON YOUR VISIT TO THE SCHOOL?

The school for continuing Education is a model school and because of its peculiarity those women and widows who had no opportunity to attend school when they were young are provided a platform to get enrolled.

I think it is probably the only model school in the country with these features and peculiarities, so we are going to pay attention to this school and sustain it as a model.

We learnt because some of the students of the school are now dropping out from the school due to their inability to afford transport fare and the management of the school has now forwarded a request to the Executive Governor to provide them with a Transit vehicle that can convey them to school and return them.

For us the situation is clear and surely the government is going to act on it urgently so that we shall not lose them out of school,

Again because majority of them are married with children, the school management requested that in collaboration with ZSUBEB the school be provided with Early child care Development platform where they are going to enroll their kids during school hours.

We saw that initiative as genuine and soonest we are going to extend the hand of fellowship to the state universal Basic Education Board to see the possibility of having that unit Established.

They have also requested for the establishment of skills Acquisition centre for the women and their argument is that since the majority of the student in the school are matured and mostly married, they need to have an integrated skills content in their education so that after graduation they can have something to based on the skills.

For that we shall contact the Directorate of skills Acquisition to see what can be done possibly to have the centre established. We are going to assign them the mandate to reach out to the politicians and Philanthropists to support the establishment of the Centre.

YOU HAVE VISITED THE COMMISSIONER FOR EDUCATION CAN WE KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE DISCUSSED WITH HIM?

I paid a familiarization visit to meet the stakeholders at the Ministry of Education and my meeting with them had provided a sense of direction and we have ironed out areas of cooperation in order to move Female Education in Zamfara State forward.

Not only that we are also expanding the scope of the interface to all other agencies and parastatals of the Ministry. We are also reaching out to the traditional Institutions and the religious groups to understand their dimension of support to us and we shall perfect the entire process soonest.

In the interim we are going to reach out to stakeholders and consciously build from their opinions and perspectives because when you are equipped with multiple opinions you will be provided with alternative options by God’s grace we shall succeed.

WHAT IS YOUR APPEAL TO THE PUBLIC REGARDING YOUR NEW RESPONSIBILITY?

I appeal to all stakeholders to support us in this new mission and I am optimistic that we shall achieve our goals. We will continue with our visitation to schools and we shall see what will be possibly achieved in the shortest possible time.

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SUPPORTING SEN. AKPABIO: YARIMAN BAKURA HAS DEMONSTRATED HIS UNENDING CONSPIRACY AGAINST THE NORTH

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BIG STORY

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Managing Editor

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The Chairman of the APC Defense Coalition, Dr. Suleiman Shuaibu Sarki Shanun Shinkafi had lambasted Sen. Ahmad Sani Yariman Bakura the former Governor of Zamfara state for allegedly backing Senator Gods will Akpabio’s candidature of becoming the Senate President of the 10th National Assembly.

He said the action of Senator Yarima is a clear demonstration of his unending conspiracy against the North and the people of Northern Nigeria by extension.

Sarkin Shanu in a statement issued in Abuja on Thursday insisted that it will be an act of conspiracy and mischief for the Zamfara former Governor, Ahmad Sani Yarima to back a southern candidate for the post of Senate President when he already has someone from Zamfara and a fellow Northerner who is buying for the same position.

He noted that the action of Senator Ahmad Yarima is a clear impression that he is an enemy of the North and the people of Northern Nigeria by extension, adding that Northerners need to be awakened and rise to the occasion before people like Yariman Bakura nail the region down for personal self enrichment.

“Yariman Bakura has demonstrated his strong and extreme disregard for the Northern Nigerian by supporting Sen. Godswill Akpabio as against the candidature of the former Governor of Zamfara Abdulaziz Yari Abubakar, and we are ready to fight him to finishing for working against the interest of the North”.

“The North West in particular has produces over 50% of the votes that produces Sen. Bola Ahmad Tinubu as the President during the 2023 election and now that our own from the region is contesting for the post of Senate President we have no option than to stand firmly behind him and enemies of the North like Yariman Bakura will fail woefully when the time comes”.

“Yariman Bakura has never hidden his personal enmity for the progress of Sen. Abdulaziz Yari and this can be demonstrated since what happened in the 2019 political race and now in the 2023 election when he worked openly against the success of the APC in Zamfara state” the statement added.

“It is shameful of Sen. Yarima to show his political solidarity to Godswill Akpabio in the open world and his action is a clear demonstration that he has declared war against the North and Northern Nigeria and by the special will of Allah Yarima he will be humiliated for working against the North” the statement added.

“We implore Sen. Yari to remain firm and focus and continue to mobilize strongly for his candidature for the Senate President, and we assure him he will emerge victorious looking at the dynamics of the way things are going, the APC zoning arrangement will surely fail”.

“For record, the President-elect is from the South, the Chief Justice of the federation who is the head of the judicial arm is also from the South, so there is no way the North will allow the seat of the Senate President who is the head of the legislative arm to shift to the South again”. The statement added.

He called on Senator Yarima to have the fear of God and leave Senator Yari alone, noting that God almighty has already made Yari the political hero of the current generation.

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YARI REMAINS MY CANDIDATE FOR THE OFFICE OF THE SENATE PRESIDENT: SEN. SEN. SUMAILA

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A Kano Senator-elect under the platform of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) Kawu Sumaila has declared to that APC zoning arrangement was an insult to the Nigerian parliament.

Sen. Kawu Sumaila who stated this on the National Television insisted that, former Governor of Zamfara and senator elect Abdulaziz Yari remain his candidate for the office of the Senate President of the 10th National Assembly.

He stated that, the National Assembly, as an independent arm of the government, should be free from the control of the executive.

“It is an insult for the APC to dictate to me where I will go in the choosing the presiding officers”.

He added that the majority of the lawmakers-elect were already discussing working against the zoning arrangements announced by the APC.

He urged Tinubu not to allow political sycophants to dictate the fortune of things for him.

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IMPOSIITION OF LEADERSHIP ON MEMBERS OF NATIONAL ASSEMBLY DANGEROUS TO NIGERIA’S DEMOCRACY: CISLAC

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The Executive Director Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Center Awal Musa Rafsanjani has described the APC zoning arrangements as announced as an attempt to pocket the 10th National Assembly.

Rafsanjani who stated this in an interview insisted that the culture of imposition of leadership on the national assembly has grave danger to the nation’s Democratic process.

Rafsanjani stated “some people endorsed by the party for leadership have corruption allegation against them, having them as presiding officers in the legislatures will neutralize anti-graft fights and will further erode the public image of the parliament.

“What the President-elect and the APC have done is to completely pocket the legislatures and make them not only rubber stamp parliament but also an extension of the presidency” .

While affirming that CISLAC supported equitable zoning of national assembly leadership seats , it condemned the imposition of individuals on the lawmakers.

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