Marvels Of Uba Sani’s Tertiary Institutions Fees Reduction

By Nasir Abdulkadir (aka Dambatta)

Recent historic decisions by Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State in his style and approach to governance reminds every well-meaning Nigerian of one shimmering fact about democracy and good governance.

That fact is: Every elected leader, with the instrumentalities of his agenda and aspirations; and his capacity, competence and commitment to deliver the good service his electors require in the prevailing situation of their entity, all contained in his toolkit, sets out on the good governance expedition, climbing high up the rocks of the tasks he has to accomplish for their common good and the prosperity of their entity.

Every elected leader, energized by his own capacity and passion, attempts carving his own niche in the task of good governance in a fashion that marks and stands him out, dazzling differently in the array of all leaders in the history of the entity.

Generally, every elected leader assumes the task of public service with one mindset: my predecessor has done his own according to his capacity and guiding concept of leadership and good governance; I will do my own differently. I will remarkably stand out in history.

Good governance is all about the legacy projects and programmes the elected leader executes and implements for the sustenance and prosperity of his people.

Governor Uba Sani is carving his own marvelous niche in the task of leadership and good governance for Kaduna State.

Over the last three months, Governor Uba Sani has, with a loud bang, in the spirit of ‘My People, My People’! announced landmark decisions aimed at assuaging the hardships the Kaduna people have been anguishing in and languishing under.

What makes this beautiful approach to governance marvelous and remarkable is its ability to inculcate the goodwill towards him in the minds of the entire Kaduna citizens and its potency in creating and sustaining inclusivity in executing the task of governance.

Governor Sani is the first and only governor among the current set of Nigerian governor’s to sign an executive order that rescues about 2.1 million Kaduna people of the state from exclusion in the affairs of their own state.

Again, in a style that marvelously addresses the core of the popular problems, Governor Uba Sani yesterday Monday, August 21, announced the slashing of fees paid by students attending Kaduna State-owned institutions of higher learning. This is aimed at reducing the financial burden on students pursuing higher education in the state.

By this decision, Governor Sani has expressed an unprecedentedly genuine determination to render education more accessible and affordable to a larger number of the citizens of Kaduna State. And their parents would now have enough to cater for the home front, to improve the standard of living of the family.

Fees paid by students of Kaduna State University, which currently stand at N150,000, would now be cut to N105,000; their counterparts at Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic, paying N100,000 would now pay 50,000; while those attending the College of Education, Gidan Waya would now be N37,500 instead of the current N75,000.

The new fees for Shehu Idris College of Health Sciences & Technology, Makarfi HND Courses would be N70.000 and ND Courses would be N52,000 instead of N76,000; while students of Kaduna State College of Nursing, who have been paying N100,000, would now pay N70,000.

With this decision, which comes as a great relief to most parents struggling to meet the high costs of tertiary education for their children, Governor Uba Sani has expressed his genuine acknowledgement of the importance of education in the development of a progressive society.

Governor Uba Sani’s decision to cut fees of higher institutions is a marvelous expression of commitment to promoting democracy, social justice and inclusivity. It is a gladdening decision that upholds the welfare of the people as the top priority of his administration.

Recall that the Governor made the fees review announcement at a media parley in Kaduna where he underscored the accessibility of quality education to every citizen of the state as the government’s responsibility.

Hear the Governor: “During electioneering and on assumption of office on May 29, 2023, we made a solemn commitment to the citizens of Kaduna State to run a people – centred, all-inclusive administration that shall leave no one or any part of Kaduna State behind.

“In response to the public outcry over the current fees being charged by tertiary institutions in Kaduna State and its effect on school enrolment and retention, I directed Heads of Tertiary Institutions in conjunction with the Ministry of Education to obtain relevant information on the extant fees regime in state-owned tertiary institutions.”

This downward review of the extant fees regime, he said, aligns with the state government’s commitment to offer palliatives to cushion the effect of general rising cost of living in the polity, especially in the wake of recent petroleum subsidy removal in Nigeria.

He underscored the welfare of the people as his administration’s topmost priority. He boosted this position with the promise that the Kaduna State Government would continue to take all measures necessary to ensure access to free and qualitative education for every child in Kaduna State from primary to secondary school; expand access to higher education; enhance teachers’ welfare and raise teaching standards; improve school infrastructure; build ICT competence in our students from basic education level; and intensify investments in the education sector in the life of the state.

Of a truth, this Governor —who is also the Deputy Chairman of Nigeria Progressive Governors Forum has shown himself as a truly progressive in the Northwest, with the most masses-friendly educational and other policies.

Abdulkadir is Senior Special Assistant to Kaduna State Governor on Print Media