Kano State has emerged as Nigeria’s best-performing state in the 2025 National Examinations Council (NECO) Senior School Certificate Examination, marking a historic achievement for Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf’s education reforms.
According to a statement issued by the Director of Media and Publicity, Kano State Government House, Sanusi Bature, NECO’s Registrar, Professor Ibrahim Wushishi, announced in Minna that Kano led the nation with 68,159 candidates securing five credits and above, including English and Mathematics.
He said this represents 5.02 percent of the 1,358,339 total candidates nationwide with Lagos State following with 67,007 candidates (4.930%), while Oyo State placed third with 48,742 candidates.
“Nationally, 818,492 candidates (60.26%) obtained five credits and above including Mathematics and English, while 1,144,496 candidates (84.26%) scored five credits regardless of the two core subjects,” he said.
Bature, attributed the success to sustained investment in education, which received the largest budget allocation in both 2024 and 2025, noting that, the governor allocated 31% of the 2025 annual budget to education as part of his campaign promise to revitalize the sector after what he termed “eight years of neglect.”
He added that key reforms implemented include providing free uniforms and learning materials, massive classroom rehabilitation, furniture provision, teacher recruitment and training, improved tertiary institution funding, scholarships, and targeted girl-child education programmes.
“The success stems from the governor’s declaration of a state of emergency in education and development of an education recovery plan, transforming Kano’s educational landscape through visionary leadership and sustained investment in human capital development.
“The achievement validates Governor Yusuf’s recognition as, Education Governor of the Year by Leadership Newspaper, Blueprint Newspaper, and the Nigeria Union of Teachers.
“Our reforms are clearly yielding results, and this outstanding performance proves that Kano is on the right path,” he said.
Bature quoted Governor Yusuf to have said education remains his top priority, and will continue working tirelessly to ensure that no child in the state is left behind.
