Alhaji Aminu Abdullahi is the Commissioner Higher Education Sokoto State. He was for nine years the Accountant General of Sokoto State before his appointment. He was also at various times the Permanent Secretary in the Ministries of Environment and Animal Health. He is saddled with the responsibility of rebuilding the higher education sector which he said was in the “Intensive Care Unit (ICU)” before the assumption of office by Governor Aliyu. He shares his experience managing higher education in Sokoto in this interview with journalists.
“Governor Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto understands that education is a key driver of economic growth and development. And that education promotes critical learning, innovation and that for children from poor backgrounds it is the best guarantee for their upward mobility. This explains why revitalizing the educational sector is one of his 9-Point Agenda.” – Alhaji Abdullahi
QUESTION: How exciting has your assignment as the Commissioner Higher Education Sokoto State been?
I would say that so far it has been a wonderful experience. And I am grateful that I am contributing my quota to ensure that Sokoto State children receive quality education. And when you work with a governor that is wholeheartedly committed to the development of education and that is also supportive, that definitely makes your assignment less stressful. Before we go far into the interview I think it’s important that I explain the difference between the ministries of higher education and basic which in a sense shows the importance the governor attaches to the educational sector. The first reason for the creation of two separate ministries is because the governor wants an effective supervision of the educational sector which by the way is huge. So in Sokoto State, like in some other states, we have two ministries- basic and higher education. Though we might be two ministries we collaborate effectively because we are dealing with essentially the same raw materials or if you like we are in a sense like the Three Arms of government- the executive, the legislature and the judiciary- though distinct they must work harmoniously to deliver development to the people.
So the ministry of Higher Education is solely concerned with tertiary education – the institutions of higher learning that offer different courses to students after their secondary level of education. We have diploma, certificate and degree awarding intuitions under the ministry numbering about 10. But at the recent State Executive Council meeting the council, in its wisdom, took the decision to return the School of Nursing to the Ministry of Health and the School of Legal Studies to the Ministry of Justice, for more effective supervision. The fact is that the five tertiary institutions transferred to their mother ministries is in line with the laws establishing them. Only God knows why the previous administration decided to put them under ministry of higher education.
We equally have 15 privately owned tertiary institutions in Sokoto State that are also under our supervision. As the government doesn’t fund them like it funds its own schools. Like every other sector when this administration assumed office things were at different levels of decay and unfortunately the educational sector wasn’t spared. The handover note that officials of the ministry put together for me was depressing because the situation in all our institutions were alarming. The morale of the workers was low; courses were not accredited and they were not paid their teaching incentives. For instance the state university was without power for more than three years. The lecture theatres were in a state of dilapidation.
On assumption of office Governor Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto instantly instructed the Kaduna Power Company to immediately restore power to the university and the other institutions after reaching an agreement with them on payment terms. That singular act elicited wild jubilation and confirmed that a Daniel has indeed come to judgment. I am ashamed talking about what Sokoto State suffered before Gov. Aliyu took over. Governor Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto has shown by words and actions that his commitment to the development of education is not political; that he in fact truly means his campaign promise to revamp the educational sector. He has paid all outstanding salaries, including the teaching allowances and rehabilitated dilapidated infrastructures in our higher institutions. If you visit them you will find an environment that is conducive for learning, We can’t be blaming students for poor performance when we haven’t provided them with the necessary tools.
In one year, we have gotten accreditation for most of the courses being run by our higher education institutions. How on earth can any institution worth its salt run unaccredited courses? It certainly amounted to a sheer waste of everybody’s time, especially that of the students. Thankfully the examination bodies have shown understanding which has gone a long way in sorting the issues. The governor has approved the payment of accreditation fees to the various bodies like the National Universities Commission and the National Board for Technical Education. Governor Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto in all sincerity has restored the hope of these students. As a mark of his commitment, there is no memo seeking his intervention on any urgent matter that does not receive his prompt response. He understands the importance of education and wants to change the narrative.
QUESTION: Is the creation of two separate ministries not a confirmation that the sector – the Primary, Basic and Higher – have serious challenges. That the burden of running the tertiary institutions for instance is already enough problems for you?
It’s important that I make the point that the governor is well guided in his actions by the decision of the National Council of Education which is the highest policy making body on education in Nigeria on the separation of the ministries. It is a national policy. He could have chosen to ignore it, but being a firm believer in the rule of law, he went with it. Again, it serves his purpose of ensuring vigorous supervision of the sector.
QUESTION: About the lack of accreditation of courses. What specific institutions are you talking about- because you have a State University and a Polytechnic?
The courses that were not accredited cut across the various departments. For instance some science courses were not accredited same with some social science courses. The most important is that we have solved a problem. The governor was elected to solve problems. That’s the mindset of Governor Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto. While he believes in accountability he equally believes that misdeeds of the past shouldn’t be an excuse. And every appointee understands this fact.
QUESTION: You talked about rehabilitation, could you tell us the total amount spent so far on the accreditation exercise?
We have spent good money on the rehabilitation of dilapidated structures. To date about N3 billion.
QUESTION: I want to take you back to the accreditation issue. Can you give me an idea of the total cost of what was spent?
For accreditation the cost is huge. For some courses we paid N35 million and for others N70 million. It depends on the course. Thankfully accreditation is once in five years, so we have some breathing space. So far virtually all our institutions have had their courses accredited and the cost is running into millions of naira. Some few months back we paid the NUC about N100 million for courses being run at the State University and they were very impressed with our governor for his efforts in running a university that is truly a center of learning and research. They in fact followed up with a letter of appreciation to the governor. The governor on his part is extremely happy because he is seeing light at the end of the tunnel. I can tell you for free that the university surpassed the NUC conditions. We adhered to their guidelines.
QUESTION: I want to ask you about the Heads of these Institutions. Were they satisfied parading themselves as Rectors, Provosts when their schools were running unaccredited courses? And did you sack them?
According to the Fiscal Responsibility Act, if an officer steals money he would be charged to court of law and tried, but according to that same law if an officer commits an irresponsible act is liable for prosecution. It wasn’t their fault that the administration of Aminu Tambuwal refused to accredit courses in their schools. They didn’t commit a deliberate and irresponsible act because they kept drawing the attention of government to the problem.
QUESTION: So why didn’t the previous administration pay for the accreditation of these courses?
I wish I could provide you with the answer considering the importance of our schools running accredited courses. It beats my imagination why they didn’t. I am not saying this to paint the previous administration in bad light, but just to put the facts before the public and nothing more.
QUESTION: Considering the premium placed on education by the governor, how well has he funded education. Does his budgeting allocation to education meet the UNESCO standard of 25%?
I want to recall that in November 2023, several countries under the auspices of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), adopted the recommendation on education for peace and human rights, international understanding, cooperation, fundamental freedoms, global citizenship and sustainable development. Today, UNESCO remains the only global standard-setting instrument that lays out how education can and should be used to bring about lasting peace and sustainable development and in positioning education as a key driver of peace and international understanding. The Sokoto State Government in the 2024 budget education was allocated the highest percentage and in 2025 it has equally maintained its number one position in terms of budgetary allocation and has in fact actually surpassed the UNESCO budget recommendation. And what does this say about the governor’s commitment to education? It no doubt clears whatever doubt about his desire. As an accountant I prefer to talk more in terms of releases because you can be allocated a fantastic amount but the cash backing is negative. So we say thank you to the governor for not only allocating funds to education, but for his express approvals and for cash backing them.
QUESTION: What’s the mandate of your ministry?
Our mandate and responsibilities includes policy formulation for higher education and recommending same to the governor who in the case of the university is the visitor, carrying out needs assessment to determine the state’s needs in higher education in both public and private institutions. We also advice the government on the appointment of heads of the various institutions working in collaboration with their governing bodies. The other critical responsibility is in assisting the various tertiary institutions with accreditation from the relevant bodies. We also have the mandate to establish linkage programmes with other institutions of higher learning. And in the area preparing and implementing an annual budget, the revenue and expenditure of state tertiary institutions, monitoring is critical. So we also carry out rigorous monitoring to ensure they are performing the reasons why they were set up. Finally, we oversee the disbursement of scholarships to state indigenes in higher learning institutions. We do produce performance reports to the governor who is interested in knowing the progress being recorded.
QUESTION: Talking about mandate now, and the ministry in charge of Basic Education. Is there a synergy between the Higher Education Ministry and the Basic Education? Secondly as you know in Northern Nigeria we have large number of out of school children what’s the way out. What is Sokoto State doing?
There is a close collaboration between the two ministries. About Out-of-School children, it is a challenge but we are addressing it on all fronts. To some extent the Nigerian culture of marrying many wives and having many children is partly responsible for our problem. But things are changing. I am glad because when we started only the few of us went to school, but now there is no household that you will not find students. Education would help people understand the importance of producing children they can cater for.
QUESTION: In the light of the economic situation many states have been forced to increase fees in their institutions. So should your students expect an increase in fees and wouldn’t it affect enrollment?
You know the story of Sokoto State. We remain eternally grateful to our father who by the way was my teacher and leader, Senator Aliyu Magatarda Wamakko, for laying a solid foundation for our educational system using his experience as an educationist. As governor of Sokoto State, he put in a place several fundamental policies; free and compulsory education, he encouraged girl child education and so many other policies. We certainly won’t be increasing fees rather we would continue to encourage our students with scholarships and other incentives to pursue their education to the highest level. The robust policies of Governor Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto have continued to attract more students to enroll into schools in the state and abroad. In fact enrollment has increased and very interestingly is the fact that students have stopped skipping school. We have achieved all these due to the policy of Governor Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto who understands the importance of education and is walking the talk. The previous government had for inexplicable reasons stopped the stipends and other privileges of the students which Governor Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto has immediately restored.
QUESTION: Are you able to meet up with your services to the schools like electricity, water, the basic things that an institution should have?
Yes. It’s important I make this additional point. In Sokoto State non indigenes are treated as indigenes, they don’t pay school fees and the government doesn’t exclude them when paying examination fees. Once you are a resident in Sokoto State you are automatically an indigene of the state. You pay what the indigenes are paying. Back to your question, our administration understands that the schools must be well funded. From next year the governor has directed that schools would be given N200,000 monthly allowance to meet minor expenses. So this is a government that understands its responsibility to its schools and indeed all government departments.
QUESTION: The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund): To what extent has your State University benefited from its funding?
The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) was established by the Federal Government of Nigeria in its farsighted wisdom in 2011 to disburse, manage, and monitor education tax to government-owned tertiary institutions. You know that before the establishment of the agency in 2011, government-owned tertiary institutions were poorly funded so the scheme was designed to improve the crisis in the sector through its interventions especially in the area of facilities where the decay was monumental. In fact facilities in most schools had almost collapsed, teachers and lecturers morale were at their lowest. The enabling environment for conducive teaching and learning was absent. So the government took this step to arrest the rot. This background is important so we can appreciate the seriousness of the situation and why the agency was set up. TETFund’s interventions are only for the universities. Primary schools have the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) a Federal Government Agency that is saddled with the responsibility of providing greater access to, and ensuring quality of basic education throughout Nigeria. The Universal Basic Education Programme was introduced in 1999 by the Federal Government of Nigeria to also address the rot in the sector.
QUESTION: So has Sokoto State University benefited from its intervention(s)?
Each year TETFund intervenes based on specific requests of the concerned institution. They don’t decide for you, because you know what you need most. For example if we need a laboratory, we would spell out our specific needs to TETFund and they would react appropriately. So they can’t come and build hostels for us when what we need is a lecture hall or ICT facilities. We have well equipped hostels, we have beds so we don’t need them, so we can’t ask them to buy beds that we have. So the answer is a big yes. The state university has tremendously benefited from the intervention of the Fund in various areas.
QUESTION: Let’s talk about the 9-Point Agenda of Governor Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto. Exactly what does the governor want to achieve in education?
Governor Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto is very clear about what he wants to achieve in education, which is development of human capital that’s important to the development of the state. The governor is driving the economic development of the state, so it’s important that we have indigenes that are skilled to work in the industries he is attracting. We recently graduated 80 medical doctors and being our citizens they can operate better in our environment because they understand the language and culture of the people. He sees education as both a social and economic investment. An educated person would easily understand the need to pay his/her tax and to be law abiding. I would give you the example of an educated woman she is a nurse, and the first teacher of her children, so if she is educated that would certainly impact on their healthcare because she would be able to give them proper care. Governor Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto means business with his well thought out 9-Point Agenda. In housing he has delivered. He was crowned the Urban and Housing-Friendly Governor of the Year 204 in recognition of his achievements in the sector. It’s not a joke to deliver 1,000 housing units less than two years. In the area of legal reforms he has equally done well. During our last State Executive Council meeting the Secretary to the State Government announced the execution of over 180 projects that have been completed in the last one and half years. The governor is a serious minded person…he won’t fail himself, his father Senator Aliyu Magatarkada Wamakko or the people who have stood solidly behind him.
QUESTION: Are your institutions of higher learning running entrepreneurship courses or are their efforts still geared towards the continued production of public servants?
The National Policy on Education introduced entrepreneurship into the curriculum of higher institutions. In the year 2000 the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) and the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) partnered to incorporate Entrepreneurship Education (EEd) into Technical and Vocational Education (TVE) curricula. The main goals of entrepreneurship education in Nigeria include, preparing the students to be self-reliant and self-employed, creating employment opportunities, helping students to transition from a traditional economy to a modern industrial economy, training students to be creative and innovative in identifying business opportunities and to establish careers in small and medium-sized businesses. In Sokoto State our tertiary institutions have embraced the entrepreneurial message. I understand that even at the Secondary School Level the students are being thought Entrepreneurship. This is the way to go because government has a limited capacity to create jobs.
QUESTION: Are your students and schools adequately supervised?
Yes they are being supervised. We regularly send out supervisors who are experts in their respective subjects to go and supervise the teachers. It is actually part of the system; it’s just that the last administration bluntly refused funding their assignment. That was a huge challenge. You don’t expect a public servant to spend his/her money to carry out government duties. So, logistic issues were largely responsible for that responsibility not being carried out like it ought to. When I resumed office I was told by the officials of the ministry, and I believe them, that they use to contribute money to buy fuel to run the generator and buy stationeries. All those have changed with the coming of Governor Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto. Ministries are now being funded to be able to carry out their functions. The governor without much noise has restored monthly allocations to the ministries and agencies. We take our monitoring role very seriously. And we treat both privately or publicly owned institutions the same way. We usually carry out unannounced and random visits. We don’t want them to prepare for our visit which would defeat the purpose.
QUESTION: Assuming you visit any of the privately owned institutions; to what end would such a visit be considering you are not in charge of accreditation?
We have the right to close the schools, when they are not operating in line with the laid down criteria. But closing such schools isn’t our usual approach. We normally enter into conversations with them which enable both parties to discuss the breaches. We are partners in progress. We have a duty of ensuring that standards are adhered to.
QUESTION: In terms of personnel do you have the adequate manpower?
On the whole, yes! But I know we have some departments that are over staffed while others are lacking personnel. That is being addressed. Recently we carried out an audit, which enabled us to identify departments that had surplus staff and the departments that were lacking. So we are working on moving staff from over staffed departments to areas of needs and where they can contribute to the overall goals of the institution.
QUESTION: The School of Nursing used to be under your ministry. Is it fair if I conclude that all courses being run by the school are accredited?
Yes all courses being run by the School of Nursing are accredited. It would also interest you to know that the State University is equally offering nursing. Our degree is HND unlike other universities that prefer awarding B.Sc Nursing. It’s a matter of choice.
