From Olanrewaju Lawal, Birnin Kebbi
Kebbi State Governor Dr Nasir Idris, his wife, Hajiya Zainab Nasir Idris, and other stakeholders in the state have charged youth and parents to redouble their efforts on their children’s education for a brighter future for the new generations.
They stated this during the quiz, spelling bee, debate, impromptu speech, comprehensive reading and essay competition organized by Better Future for Young Generation, Kebbi State, as part of activities to mark the 63rd Independence anniversary.
The competition, which kicked off on 21/9/2023 involved 20 schools comprised of secondary and primary schools which competed for various categories while the final phase was held on the 1st of October,2023.
While speaking with newsmen after the final, Kebbi State Governor, Dr Nasir Idris represented by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) Alhaji Yakubu Bala (Tafida Yauri) commended the organizer for the historical event and the students for excellent performances.
According to him, “What we have seen today is the results of investment the state government had deeply done in the education sector. That is the result we all see today. We are grateful to Almighty God for these results and to our amiable Governor for the investment in education.
“I want to urge other students, youths across the state to emulate these young students, these young pupils. They should do better than them so that they can excel in the future”.
In her remark, the wife of the state governor Hajiya Zainab Nasir Idris, who was represented by Hajiya Aisha Sahabi charged the parents to redouble their efforts in educating their ward for a brighter future.
Hajia Idris, who donated N200,000 to the organiser, said “I want to assure you that I shall continue to support you in this course you are pursuing. I believe that all of us present here today were impressed with the performances of these students this afternoon.
“I want to call on both parents and teachers to double their efforts to ensure that Kebbi State takes its right position in education in Nigeria,” she said.
The Commissioner for Youth and Sports Development, Nura Fingiler, who donated N500,000 on behalf of other Commissioners, described the event as historical in the history of the state.
He said: “I wish to congratulate the organiser of this programme which is historical in the history of Kebbi State since its creation.”
The Commissioner for Finance, Alhaji Abubakar Muhammad Birnin Kebbi, represented by Mallam Nasir M Dan-Illela, who commended the organizer for the event, donated N100,000 to support them.
Earlier, the Executive Secretary of SUBEB, Kebbi State, Alhaji Umar Hassan the stakeholders were in attendance to assess the performances of the individual students and schools stressed that students have really shown that the education sector has improved tremendously.
While speaking with newsmen, the State Chairman for advocating for a Better Future for Future Generation in Kebbi State, Anas Lawal Kangiwa noted that the purpose of organising the first edition of the competition among the 20 schools was to create an avenue for young generations to showcase their talents as well providing an opportunity to revive education sector for greater future.
“We just started this year and our focus, aim is to create a good avenue for our younger ones to showcase their talents, improve education and revive the education sector in the state. The state Government is doing well, and the Ministry of Education and SUBEB are doing well too. Ours is to support them in what they are doing under the Kaura Quality Assurance.
Out of the 20 schools that participated in the competition, in the debate category for secondary schools, Salamatu Hussaini Government Girls Secondary School came first with 235 points followed by Army Day Boys Secondary School, Dr Aminat Government Girls College and Nagari Science College which came 2nd,3rd and 4th positions with 228 points,213.7 points and 209.7 points respectively.
Other schools that participated in the competition included Unity Government Girls College, Army Girls Day Secondary School, Abdullahi Fodio Islamic Center, Emir Haruna Rasheed Secondary School, and Abdullahi Fodio Day Secondary School.
Primary Schools that also participated including Afamu Guluma Model Primary School, Gwandu Emirates Model Primary School, Atiku Bagudu Model Primary School, Dikko Aliyu Zauro Model Primary School, Zannan Gwandu Model Primary School, Army Children Primary School and Justice Suleiman Ambursa Models primary school.