By Aminu Garko
Kano, Kano State has emerged as the leading state among the 36 states of the federation in the 2026 Senior School Certificate Examination, SSCE, conducted by the National Examinations Council, NECO.
The state recorded 74,413 candidates who obtained at least five credits, including English Language and Mathematics, placing Kano ahead of other states, with Lagos second with 72,496 candidates and Oyo third with 55,543 candidates.
The performance marks the second consecutive year that Kano has topped the NECO national performance chart, after recording the highest number of candidates with five credits, including English and Mathematics, in the 2025 examination.
Reacting to the development, Gov. Abba Yusuf of Kano State commended the students, teachers, parents and other stakeholders for the outstanding performance.
Yusuf said the back-to-back performance was an indication that the state’s sustained investment in education was producing measurable results.
He assured the people of Kano that his administration would continue to prioritise education through increased funding, improved learning facilities, teacher recruitment and training, scholarships and support for indigent students.
As part of the interventions, the state government spent over N4.4 billion in 2026 to sponsor candidates for Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination, particularly indigent students.
The governor said the intervention was designed to remove financial barriers and enable students to participate in the examinations under better conditions.
He said the latest NECO result was a continuation of the improvement recorded by Kano students under the present administration.
According to him, education has consistently received the largest share of Kano State’s budget under his administration, surpassing the UNESCO benchmark.
In 2024, education accounted for about 29.95 per cent of the state budget. The allocation increased to N168.35 billion, representing 31 per cent, in the 2025 budget.
For 2026, the state allocated N405.35 billion to education, representing about 30 per cent of the N1.47 trillion budget.
The governor said the investment goes beyond examination sponsorship to include classroom renovation, teacher recruitment, learning materials, uniforms, scholarships and other interventions aimed at improving the quality of education.
He said the administration’s education policies have also attracted recognition at national and international levels, with Kano fast becoming a leading education reform hub in sub-Saharan Africa.
In 2024, Yusuf received the Leadership Newspaper Governor of the Year Award for Education, while New Telegraph recognised him for educational development.
The Nigeria Union of Teachers also named him its Teachers’ Friendly Governor of the Year for 2024.
In 2025, Blueprint Newspaper recognised Yusuf as Governor of the Year for Education at the paper’s national conference in Abuja, while This Nigeria newspaper awarded him as Courageous Governor of the Year 2024.
His administration also received education-related recognition at international space in London and Paris in 2026, for its commitment to education with international literacy and learning award and the education spending award by the Universal Learning Solution and City University, Paris respectively.
Other national recognitions include the Vanguard Governor of the Year Award for Good Governance in 2024, the BusinessDay Governor of the Year Award in 2025, and African Governor of the Year award by the African Leadership Magazine in Casablanca, Morocco.
Yusuf dedicated the latest NECO achievement to the students, teachers, parents and people of Kano State, assuring them that the government would sustain its investment in education.
He said the objective was to build an education system capable of providing Kano’s young people with the knowledge and skills required for higher education, employment, innovation and leadership as Kano has recorded over five million school children in the last annual school census.
