TheCable

Nasir el-Rufai, governor of Kaduna, says the state needs support from development partners and others to make the Kaduna State University (KASU) a world-class institution.

El-Rufai spoke on Friday at the groundbreaking ceremony of the permanent site of the institution’s main campus.

According to him, the varsity had functioned from a main campus in Kaduna and the Kafanchan campus, hence the decision to move it to the vast land in Rigachikun.

“During our first term, we adopted a multicampus policy for all state-owned tertiary institutions, to further expand access to these schools,’’ he said.

He, however, appealed to the state’s “development partners and friends in the corporate world to support our drive to build a world-class university.”

The governor, who was represented by Hadiza Balarabe, his deputy, said the event was another evidence of his administration’s drive to revamp education in the state.

He said under his watch, the state has been able to achieve free and compulsory education from primary to secondary schools.

El-Rufai added that “technical and vocational education is receiving similar attention” as his government seeks to empower people with skills required to thrive in the 21st century.

He noted that such efforts were informed by his administration’s quest to reverse the consequences of decades of neglect in the state’s educational sector.

“This has necessitated a continuous effort to reverse the consequences of decades of neglect of the sector. The state government continues to invest in renovating schools and building new schools and classrooms where necessary,” he said.