The Executive Secretary of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Mrs. Aisha Garba, gave the commendation when Governor umar Namadi of Jigawa state paid a visit to the UBEC headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday.
Mrs. Garba applauded Namadi’s dedication, describing his visit as a reflection of true commitment to educational transformation.
“In 2024 alone, only ten states accessed their matching grants, and Jigawa is proudly among them. The only outstanding balance is for 2025, which is N6 billion,” she said.
She further underlined the review of UBEC’s funding standard, which she said offers states the flexibility to prioritize renovations, a move she inspired by feedback from committed states like Jigawa.
“You can’t keep building new structures while the old ones are falling apart. The decision to increase the percentage allocated to renovations to up to 50%, which is a wise step in the right direction,” she added.
According to the Executive Secretary, Jigawa State, under Namadi’s leadership, has recorded the construction of over 3,000 classrooms, 30 offices, 500 boreholes, 1,200 toilets, distribution of over 1,250 furniture items and trained more than 17,000 teachers.
“These efforts, combined with community involvement and transparency, make Jigawa a model for other states.”
Governor Malam Umar Namadi, in his remarks, said the government took bold steps to address poor learning outcomes, after an independent survey, revealed that the majority of primary school pupils could not read or write effectively.
“We were alarmed by the findings. It spurred us to act swiftly. Today, we are beginning to see real results,” Namadi stated.
He further explained that over 7,000 teachers have been recruited under his administration, to strengthen basic education delivery, saying that the state introduced innovative community-based strategies.
“These mothers make sure children leave home on time, attend school regularly and don’t return until school hours are over. Their role has been transformative.”
The governor also shared details of the state’s partnership with NewGlobe, under a programme called Jigawa UNITES, which aimed to improve literacy and numeracy through data-driven teaching models.
“We’ve assigned them half of our schools while we continue managing the other half, allowing us to compare and track performance. This approach helps us monitor impact objectively.”
