Northern Leaders Must Share Blame for Region’s Backwardness, Says Uba Sani

Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani said Northern Nigerian political office holders serving since 1999 must share responsibility for the region’s development challenges, including its high number of out-of-school children. He said Nigeria had about 18 million children out of school in 2023, roughly 70% of them in the North, and claimed Kaduna had returned 300,000 of its approximately 550,000 out-of-school children to classrooms since he took office. Defending President Bola Tinubu’s record, Sani cited federal road projects in the North-East and North-West and N84 billion in student loans benefiting more than 414,000 people from the North-West. He urged voters to assess candidates by their public-service records rather than regional origin and stressed education and vocational training.