Governor Abba’s education reforms are working as Kano is once again at the top of NECO

When sustained investments in education begin to produce measurable results, the numbers speak for themselves and this year they speak loudly for Kano State under Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf.

Results of the 2026 National Examinations Council (NECO) Senior School Certificate Examination have once again placed Kano State at the top of the national league table, with the highest number of candidates recording at least five credits, including English Language and Mathematics, ahead of Lagos and Oyo, Nigeria’s other major educational centres. Kano recorded 74,413 eligible candidates ahead of Lagos’ 72,496 and Oyo’s 55,543.

Kano’s figure represents 1,917 more successful candidates than Lagos and 18,870 more than Oyo on this benchmark. But the most compelling story is about trajectory, not just location. In 2025, Kano recorded 68,159 candidates who met the same standard. This year’s 74,413 marks an increase of 6,254 applicants, a 9.2% increase in just one year. This is not a one-off spike; it is the continuation of a deliberate policy direction under Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, for whom education has remained a central pillar of governance since he took office.

This direction was supported by the budget, and the budget was supported by the results. Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf’s administration has consistently made education the largest sector priority in its budget, accounting for 31% of the approved 2025 budget, and once again the largest allocation in the approved 2026 budget. But commitments are not just measured in appropriations documents. It is measured in classrooms, in teacher well-being, in learning environments and, ultimately, in outcomes. This year’s NECO data is exactly that: verifiable evidence that the Governor’s investment philosophy is translating into results for Kano’s children and setting a better pace for sustainable development for the generation yet to be born.

No actor, such as the government, school, teacher, or parent, can claim sole credit for a child’s success. But governments that consistently prioritize education, improve learning conditions, invest in teachers, and expand access create the conditions in which success becomes more likely and more widespread. Kano’s numbers over the last two years reflect exactly this kind of enabling environment.

For Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, this achievement is a foundation, not a destination. The next phase of ambition should extend beyond the baseline minimum pass rates towards higher grades and deeper achievement in core subjects, improved completion rates across the educational pathway, greater access to tertiary education, which has seen further government effort through the creation of a new polytechnic in Gaya, strengthening science and technical education and greater opportunities for disadvantaged girls and children. For the real objective of investment in education has never been the examination certificate itself, but rather human capital: the child who acquires knowledge, the young person who acquires a skill, the graduate who becomes employable, the entrepreneur who creates jobs and the citizen equipped to shape Kano’s future for the better.

Noteworthy is that these positive results reflect the governor’s commitment to the construction of over 1,800 new classrooms, the renovation of over 2,500 existing ones, the opening of hitherto closed colleges, the provision of over 150,000 seats for students and pupils, as well as investments in human capital in the sector with the recruitment of over 18,600 teachers, continuous training and teacher development to name but a few

The celebration of Kano is sacrosanct given that it has over 9,000 public schools while Lagos only has over 2,000, for the Abba administration the work continues. Because the true measure of educational legacy is not how many children pass an exam today, but how many lives are transformed by the opportunity to learn, tomorrow. This is where the story of Kano’s education continues.

Handsome Adamu writes from Kano

[email protected]

September 30, 2026