Students Back Tinubu, Gwamna Over Education Interventions

Students in Gombe State have cited education interventions, including the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), skills training and tertiary education support, among reasons for backing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in the state, Dr Jamilu Isyaku Gwamna, ahead of the 2027 elections.

The students, under the JAGABA/INUWA Students’ Mandate 2027, stated this in a statement issued on Thursday to announce the launch of its Campus Ambassadors initiative across tertiary institutions in the state.

According to the statement, the initiative would mobilise students and promote discussions on education, governance and youth development, with the ambassadors engaging their colleagues on government programmes and interventions.

Speaking at the launch, the Convener, Comrade Kasim Abubakar, said the group would focus on documented developments in education, including school infrastructure, teacher recruitment, access to education, examination performance, girl-child education, out-of-school children and tertiary education.

He said the initiative would provide students with a platform to discuss programmes affecting their education and future.

“We are launching a platform that will engage students on the developments taking place in the education sector. Our Campus Ambassadors will take this conversation to campuses across Gombe, engage their fellow students and encourage informed discussions about programmes and interventions affecting their education and future,” Abubakar said.

The group said federal education interventions, particularly NELFUND, technical and vocational education and training (TVET), tertiary infrastructure and research funding, informed its support for the Tinubu administration.

According to Abubakar, more than 1.6 million NELFUND applications had been processed as of August 2026, with over N322 billion disbursed to students in universities, polytechnics, colleges of education and vocational schools.

He also cited the administration’s plan to train more than one million youths across 1,600 centres, as well as interventions in tertiary infrastructure and research funding.

On Gombe State, the group said Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya’s administration had prioritised education since declaring a state of emergency in the sector in 2019.

It said the administration had reported the construction and renovation of more than 1,600 classrooms across about 350 schools, alongside the recruitment of more than 1,000 teachers.

The group also cited reported improvement in examination performance, saying the proportion of students obtaining at least five credits, including English and Mathematics, in national examinations rose from 22 per cent in 2019 to 76 per cent in 2024.

It further listed interventions under the Better Education Service Delivery for All (BESDA) programme, which it said brought more than 350,000 out-of-school children into formal education.

Other interventions cited included the upgrading of five legacy secondary schools into Mega Colleges, support for girl-child education through the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE), scholarships and bursaries, examination support and the reintroduction of mandatory mock examinations.

The group said the state government had also continued to expand Gombe State University through new faculties and campuses, while supporting tertiary institutions and benefiting from TETFund-funded projects.

The newly inaugurated Campus Ambassadors were charged with grassroots mobilisation, voter education and engaging students on education-related programmes at federal and state levels.

The group also expressed support for Gwamna, saying his stated intention was to build on the achievements of the Inuwa Yahaya administration while introducing new initiatives.

It said Gwamna’s campaign priorities included job creation, economic growth, youth and women empowerment, agriculture and livestock development, education, healthcare, infrastructure, entrepreneurship, investment and innovation.

The Campus Ambassadors, it added, would take the candidate’s policies and programmes to students across tertiary institutions in the state.