Lawal Addresses Educational Gaps in Zamfara North

For many years, two big questions have stood out in Zamfara North Senatorial District: why is this area the only one without a state-owned tertiary school? And why have previous governments not set up even one of the seven state tertiary institutions here?

A look at where these state-owned institutions are shows that three are in Zamfara West, four are in Zamfara Central, and there are none in Zamfara North.

Many people from Zamfara North have raised their voices against this unfair treatment and feelings of neglect. I was part of this push, coming from the zone and serving as the Publicity Secretary of the Zamfara North Senatorial Development Forum (ZANSEDEF).

The issue got worse in 2022 when a letter from the Federal Ministry of Education about a Federal Science and Technical College in Zamfara North appeared online. The situation worsened when there were plans to move the proposed school to another area in the state, despite the Federal Ministry's advice. But that is now in the past.

The steps taken by Governor Dauda Lawal’s administration to fix this long-standing issue by starting a tertiary institution in Zamfara North deserve praise. Just this week, on Monday, 20 July, the Zamfara State Executive Council approved contracts worth N3.3 billion to build the basic structures for the College of Nursing Sciences in Zurmi LGA, Zamfara North.

This project is a win for people in the area who have been longing for more schools nearby. The only tertiary institution in the zone right now is the Federal Polytechnic, Kaura Namoda. Adding another school in the area will improve access to higher education and boost development and economic activities, especially in Zurmi.

Earlier in May, I had a discussion with a fellow citizen who works in health. He said that funding a new College of Nursing Sciences is a “misplaced priority” because there are “over 1,000” nursing graduates in the state looking for jobs. He also said that Zamfara has fewer than 2,000 nurses working.

I disagree with him. Starting a new college is not a misplaced priority, especially in a region where there are few higher education options. Being close to home matters a lot. Distance is a big reason many people struggle to access education and vital services.

Quality education and job access are linked, but they are not the same. People can only look for jobs if they have the right skills and knowledge, which this college aims to provide. Also, just because there are unemployed graduates does not mean we have trained enough people. We need more skilled professionals to fill gaps caused by migration and brain drain.

The new College of Nursing Sciences in Zurmi will help solve the access problem, especially for students in northern Zamfara. By training more nurses, we are getting them ready for jobs, whether in government or private firms within and outside the state.

It is important to know that no government can promise a job to every graduate. But if my friend is right about having 1,000 unemployed nursing graduates in Zamfara, we might soon have no unemployed nurses left in the state. Right now, there is a recruitment drive for about 1,000 nurses and health workers in Zamfara, as approved by Governor Dauda Lawal.

It is clear that when there is political will, it does not take long to get approval for recruitment. But it takes about three years to train a nurse. So we must ask: should we start training more nurses now, or wait until there is a recruitment opportunity and then find we have no qualified people to hire? Well done to Governor Lawal for being proactive and sensitive to fairness for all areas of Zamfara.