Gov. Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State has approved the payment of the National Examination Council (NECO) registration fees for over 24, 000 students in public secondary schools in the state.

The senior special assistant (SSA) to the governor on public affairs, Peter Ahemba, disclosed this at a bi-monthly news conference in Lafia on Friday.

Mr Ahemba said that the initiative, which was in its second phase, captured all the final-year students in public secondary schools.

He also said that government did not discriminate between indigenes and non-indigenes, adding that the gesture covered every student in public schools.

The governor’s aide also said that the gesture was aimed at ensuring that all eligible students would sit for the examination without financial burden to their parents.

He emphasised that the initiative was part of the government’s efforts to promote education and alleviate financial hardship on students and their families.

“Because of the state government’s huge investment in the education sector, the state was ranked ninth best in the entire country and second best in the North-Central performance index in NECO for 2024,” he said.

Mr Ahemba further said that the state government, through the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Leadership and Empowerment (AGILE) programme of the federal government, had concluded plans to construct 30 blocks of new classrooms.

He said that the government would build 15 senior secondary schools and 15 junior secondary schools under the AGILE initiative.

He also said that the state government had beefed up security in the border communities with Benue to guard against spillover attacks.

“There has been apprehension in the border communities because of the recent attacks in Benue, where residents fled for fear of the unknown.

“The government had returned all those who fled and had put measures in place to protect them against attackers,” Mr Ahemba said. 

(NAN)