The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, has described Yobe as a role model in the promotion and development of foundational education in Nigeria.
Alausa made the remark on Thursday in Abuja while hosting Nafisa Garba, Rukayya Mohammed Fema and Khadija Kashim, winners of the 2025 TeenEagle Global Competition held in London, United Kingdom.
The minister said Yobe State had prioritised foundational education, a move which had accelerated educational development in the state.
He commended the Yobe government, parents and teachers for supporting the girls, who emerged world champions in the global competition.
“Yobe’s participation and success at the competition is a pride not only to the state but to Nigeria as a whole. President Bola Tinubu firmly believes in human capital development, and the future of Nigerian youths lies in education,” he said.
Alausa presented personal tokens of appreciation to the winners for their outstanding performance.
Also speaking, Prof. Abba Idris, Yobe Commissioner for Basic Education, said the state’s success was a reflection of Gov. Mai Mala Buni’s sustained commitment to rebuilding and reforming the education sector.
Idris outlined measures taken by the state government, which included the reconstruction of over 300 schools destroyed by insurgency, establishment of 15 mega and model schools, and the construction of eight new Government Girls’ Senior Secondary Schools.
He added that the state government had procured books, laboratory equipment and instructional materials, built 627 new classrooms and renovated 448 others, employed over 5,000 teachers, trained 9,452, and provided furniture, toilets, boreholes and perimeter fencing to improve school infrastructure and security.
The commissioner further said that over N4 billion had been expended on school feeding programmes, while examination fees for WAEC, NECO, NABTEB, NBAIS and BECE were consistently settled, amounting to over N3 billion this year alone.
He disclosed that the state had invested N2.2 billion in scholarships for 890 students at Nigeria Tulip International College, including Nafisa, Rukayya and Khadija, while another N2.3 billion was spent on providing solar-powered electricity in 72 secondary schools.
According to him, N1.923 billion was also spent on rehabilitation of several secondary schools, N1.1 billion on perimeter fencing of others, and N750 million on rehabilitation of 150 Almajiri schools.
“Today we are celebrating a victory – a victory of resilience, and of a governor who believes in education as the key to a prosperous future for his people,” Idris said.
