Kano State has proudly emerged as the best-performing state in the 2025 Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE Internal) conducted by the National Examinations Council (NECO).
This landmark achievement is a direct result of the sweeping reforms and sustained investment of Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf in the education sector.
This was contained in a statement issued by the governor’s spokesperson, Sunusi Bature Dawakin Tofa, on Wednesday.
Announcing the results in Minna, Niger State, NECO Registrar, Prof. Ibrahim Wushishi, disclosed that out of the 1,358,339 candidates who sat for the June/July examination, 818,492, representing 60.26 per cent, obtained five credits and above including Mathematics and English.
A further 1,144,496 candidates, representing 84.26 per cent, scored five credits and above irrespective of the two subjects.
Kano led the nation with 68,159 candidates (5.020 per cent of the national total) securing five credits and above, including English and Mathematics. Lagos followed with 67,007 (4.930 per cent), while Oyo came third with 48,742 candidates.
This unprecedented success reflects Governor Yusuf’s education-driven leadership, which has consistently placed funding, infrastructure, and access to learning at the top of his government’s priorities.
In both the 2024 and 2025 budgets, education received the single largest allocation, empowering the administration to deliver sweeping reforms that revitalized schools and inspired renewed confidence in public education.
Among the landmark interventions are:
- Provision of free uniforms and learning materials to pupils, boosting enrolment and easing parental burden.
- Massive rehabilitation of dilapidated classrooms and provision of furniture, creating modern and conducive learning environments.
- Recruitment and continuous training of teachers to raise the standard of instruction.
- Improved funding for tertiary institutions and scholarships to expand opportunities for Kano indigenes.
- Targeted promotion of girl-child education and programs to drastically reduce out-of-school children.
Governor Yusuf’s bold reforms have earned him national acclaim, with Leadership Newspaper, Blueprint Newspaper, and the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) each bestowing on him the title of Education Governor of the Year.
Analysts note that these recognitions foreshadowed the transformation that is now evident in the state’s NECO results, which they describe as a “testament to leadership vision and the power of sustained investment in human capital.”
Reacting to the development, Governor Yusuf was elated with outcome, he reaffirmed his commitment to deepen the reforms and lauded the contrinutions of all stakeholders in the education sector.
“Our reforms are clearly yielding results, and this outstanding performance by our students proves that Kano is on the right path.
“Education remains our top priority, and we will continue working tirelessly to ensure no child in Kano is left behind,” the governor declared.
With Kano now officially leading the nation in the 2025 NECO SSCE performance index, the state’s triumph is being celebrated as a historic milestone and a shining example of how visionary leadership can transform the future of young people through education.
It could be recalled that Governor Yusuf has allocated 31 per cent of the 2025 annual budget to education with a view to achieving strategic reforms in the sector.
The efforts were part of his campaign promises to take Kano out of the decay and dilapidation of education sector in Kano after eight years of neglect by Ganduje administration.
“This is the fruition of our declaration of state of emergency in education last year and the development of education recovery plan” the Governor stated
