Nigeria at 55: El Rufai free nine prison inmates in Kaduna

Kaduna State governor, Nasir El Rufai, Thursday freed nine prisoners serving various jail terms in the state to mark the nation’s 55th Independence anniversary.

The governor also said five convicted prisoners had their death sentences commuted to various prison terms.

El Rufai made this announcement at a colourful parade by the army, police, para-military and other security operatives as well as school children, held at the main bowl of the Ahmadu Bello Stadium, Kaduna.

He noted that such gesture to extend mercy to the prisoners was in pursuant to section 212 of the Nigerian constitution.

According to him, the nation was being liberated and there was need to also free the people by making quality education accessible to all.

He added that ‎“education is freedom from want and the provision of free basic education in decent schools, with skilled teachers. This is one of the priorities this government will accomplish in its four-year term. ‎

“We have spent the past few months planning school repairs, the provision of school furniture and training of teachers.

“Today, we move to declare a state of emergency in education. We ask for your support as we begin to implement extraordinary measures in the education sector.

“Tomorrow, by God’s Grace, the commissioner for education, science and technology will announce the measures that will be taken to ensure that our schools’ infrastructure, tools and teacher quality are improved significantly within the next six weeks.

“We are determined that one legacy of the rebirth of our country will be the restoration of education as a tool to free our people from the fetters of ignorance.”