Aisha Buhari seeks support from Nigerians on education

The First Lady of Nigeria, Dr. Aisha Muhammadu Buhari, has appealed to well-meaning Nigerians to support the education of young Nigerians. The President’s Wide  at the graduation ceremony of her Future Assured Youth Education Empowerment Program (FA-YEEP) batch two in Yola, Adamawa State on Thursday, represented at the ceremony by her daughter, Mrs. Halima Buhari-Sheriff, said that it is common knowledge in all parts of the world that people without education find it difficult to manage their lives. “They experience poor health conditions, lack of employment opportunities, and the inability to have a voice to articulate and channel their opinions,” she noted.

The First Lady said that one of the long-term casualties of war and other crises around the world is education.

According to the First Lady: “Undoubtedly, education has suffered a lot in this part of the country despite the fact that it is one of the most powerful tools for national development, which empowers humanity with knowledge and other opportunities.

“Therefore, I have always queried myself if there was anything I can do to ameliorate the ever-declining access to education, especially, in the Northeast that was ravaged by the activities of insurgency over the years.”

Aisha recalled that in 2017, she partnered with Konngol Silvertongue Institute in Adamawa State to experiment with some ideas on how to improve access to education, particularly, among the young school dropouts. That experiment, she said, brought back those who initially lost hope because they failed in their WAEC, NECO and had no idea where to start again.

“The FA-YEEP, then, commenced with 135 students; and at the end, the training recorded 40% success rate. “Banking on our experience, we commenced the second batch with about 650 students and recorded a 95% success rate today,” Aisha narrated.

Mrs. Halima Buhari-Sheriff also thanked the traditional leaders in the State for their support, the Lamido of Adamawa, Emir of Mubi, and the Gangwari of Ganye, where the three learning centers were located. She further expressed gratitude to the development partners, Petroleum Equalisation Fund, Northeast Development Commission for providing the learners with customized E-learning tools.

Professor Abubakar Tahir of Kongol Silvertongue Institute expressed gratitude to the productive partnership, which resulted in a huge success rate. More than a dozen students made several distinctions in their WAEC and have gained admissions into various tertiary institutions around the country, said Professor Tahir.

Highlights of the event were testimonials shared by the successful beneficiaries and they were presented with gifts, one of them, Miss Patience Johnsimandi, made 9 distinctions from all the subjects she sat for.

The Adamawa State Governor, represented by the Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Wilbiner Jackson, and the Wife of the Governor, Hajiya Lami Ahmadu Fintiri, represented by the Commissioner of Women Affairs, gave goodwill messages and thanked the First Lady for her kindness to the people of Adamawa State.

Mrs. Halima Buhari-Sheriff was accompanied to the event by some Presidential Aides, who include Alh. Mohammed Usman Albishir, Mr. Aliyu Abdullahi, and Mrs. Fadima Rose Audu, among others.