Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State has warned that parents who fail to send their children to school will be arrested along with the children.
Speaking at an interactive session with UNICEF Youth Advocacy, Governor Ganduje stated that his administration has teamed up with the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, and will be sending a bill to the State House of Assembly for the law to be effected.
He also revealed that the bill will ensure that primary and secondary school is free for all children in the state.
“Children begging on the street instead of going to school will be arrested and their parents arrested and charge to court for prosecution because begging is not our religion. Begging is not Islam. Those children who are begging will be arrested and their parents will be taken to court for allowing their children to be begging instead of attending school.”
Ganduje also spoke of how his administration has ensured that the primary and secondary school teachers have qualified certificates. He revealed that only three percent of the teachers are unqualified and have been sent back to school to get necessary qualifications.
He added, “We hope you as development partners when we are being accused by mischievous people; we want you to come forward and defend us. Anything we do for the development of education, if we receive undue criticism, I urge you to demonstrate and we will give you protection. That is the only way we can get a change. Otherwise, all that we are doing will remain theoretical.”
“I wish what is happening now happened 20 years ago. It would have been a different story by now. Kano state is the most populous state in the federation. We want our population to be a quality population. There are some countries in the world that don’t have a drop of oil, but yet their economy is strong. The main reason is education, even development, and technology.
“So, we being the most populous state in the world, we want our population to be an asset. As China has conquered the world as a result of the population that is how Kano will conquer Nigeria as a result of population.”
