Students launch support group for Tinubu, Abba in Kano

The Jagaba/Abba Students’ Mandate group in Kano state has launched what it calls its Campus Ambassadors Initiative in 25 tertiary institutions in the state, with the group mobilizing students in support of the re-election bids of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf ahead of the 2027 general elections.

In a statement by its promoter, Comrade Nafiu Yunusa, on Thursday, the initiative is designed to establish a structured student network on campuses to engage students, organize discussions and communicate what the group described as the educational achievements of the Tinubu and Abba administrations.

Speaking at the launch in Kano recently, Comrade Yunusa described the initiative as a strategic effort to engage Kano’s student population in the re-election campaign of the two leaders.

Yunusa said the group’s support is based on what he described as tangible achievements in the education sector under the Federal Government and the Kano State Government.

“We are here today to launch a movement driven by results, not rhetoric. President Tinubu’s renewed hope agenda and Governor Abba’s visionary leadership have transformed the educational landscape of our state and our nation. Our university ambassadors will take this message of progress to every lecture hall, hostel and campus in Kano.”

According to the group, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s achievements in the education sector remain the driving force behind their support.

The group cited the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) as one of the Tinubu administration’s key education initiatives, claiming that more than 1.6 million applications had been processed as of August 2026, with over $322 billion disbursed to students at universities, polytechnics, colleges and vocational colleges.

It also highlighted investments in technical and vocational education and training (TVET), including plans to train more than one million young people in 1,600 centres, as well as the provision of educational support, stipends and starter packages.

Other achievements attributed by the group to the FG include an agreement with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), infrastructure projects funded through the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), research and innovation grants, and institutional upgrades in Kano.

IT specifically cited the conversion of the Federal College of Education, Kano, into the Yusuf Maitama Sule Federal University of Education and the proposed upgrade of the Federal Polytechnic, Kabo to a University of Technology.

Yunusa said the group supports Governor Abba because of what it described as his administration’s interventions in education, which include declaring a state of emergency in the education sector and allocating between 30 and 31 percent of the state budget to the sector in 2024, 2025 and 2026.

He also praised the implementation of free education from primary to secondary level, a 50% reduction in tuition fees in all state-owned tertiary institutions and the payment of NECO and NABTEB examination fees for thousands of students.

“Recruitment of over 14,000 permanent teachers, including 6,000 new teachers, 2,000 absorbed BESDA volunteers, 4,315 BESDA teachers added in September 2025, 400 mathematics teachers and 1,600 school guards.

Others are the refurbishment of primary classrooms in all 44 LGAs, the construction of new classroom complexes and the provision of 80,000 sets of three-seater desks which, according to the group, have saved 240,000 students who were previously sitting on bare floors.

“Reopening of all girls’ colleges closed by the previous administration and provision of free buses to take girls to school in a bid to boost girls’ education.

“The resurgence of foreign postgraduate scholarships, with over 2,000 students sent abroad for masters and doctoral programmes, has led to Kano emerging as No. 1 in Nigeria in the 2025 NECO examinations.

Campus ambassadors were entrusted with the responsibility of grassroots mobilization, voter education, and articulating the achievements of the Tinubu and Abba administrations to the student body.