Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of Kano State has disclosed the intention of his administration to build an exclusively female bilingual college in Niger Republic.
Last year, Governor Kwankwaso spent over N1 billion on the building of the Kano-Niger Republic Bilingual College in Niamey.
Kwankwaso said the gesture was part of efforts of his administration to consolidate bilateral relationship between Nigeria and Niger Republic.
Hosting officials of the Nigeria-Niger Joint Commission for Cooperation, he said the second school would be for female students.
Kwankwaso, in a statement by his media aide, Mallam Halilu Ibrahim Dantiye, explained that the move was also in furtherance of his administration’s girl-child education drive.
He recalled that his government had earlier constructed an all male bilingual boarding college in Niamey for Kano and Nigerien students, and that the need for another college became imperative because, “French is indispensable, considering the fact the Nigeria is surrounded by Francophone countries”.
He added: “Like the male bilingual college in Niamey, the proposed female college will provide opportunity for our young girls to learn French and interact with their Nigerien counterparts, thus promoting cultural relations between two brotherly nations”, he said.
While noting that the long existing relationship between both countries has continued to wax stronger, he said all the resolutions reached during his last visit to Niger Republic which include the setting up of an economic forum, establishment of a bilingual college and exchange of wild animals for zoological gardens have been actualized.
In his speech, Secretary General, Nigeria-Niger Joint Commission for Cooperation, Ambassador AbdulJalil Suleiman said the commission has recorded some achievements in the control of cross border drug trafficking, human tracking and equitable sharing of water resources between the two countries.
On his part, the president, Nigeria-Niger Joint Chamber of Commerce, Alhaji Badaru Abubakar praised the governor for what he described as his untiring efforts aimed at strengthening relations between the two countries.
Source: Daily Trust
