‎Empowering Adamawa through Education: Dr. Salihu Girie Bakari’s Vision for a Brighter Future

By Tgnews Reporter

‎Dr. Salihu Girie Bakari, a renowned educationist, administrator, and aspirant for higher political leadership in Adamawa State, has outlined a transformative vision centred on repositioning education, especially higher and technical education as the bedrock for sustainable development and prosperity in the state.

‎Speaking at a well-attended stakeholders’ forum in Abuja, Dr. Bakari lamented the current paradox where education, though celebrated in policy documents as a tool for modernization and progress, has become “a burden” to Nigeria and Adamawa in particular because it produces graduates who are neither functionally literate nor employable.

‎“We keep churning out thousands of graduates yearly; NCE, diplomas, degrees –yet the majority are not employable, and there are simply no jobs waiting for them,” he said.

‎“After leaving the four walls of the institution, these young people discover they have been wasting precious years of their lives.”

‎Drawing from personal experience, the former ADSUBEB Executive Chairman disclosed that he personally receives daily requests from friends, relatives, and community members seeking employment assistance.

‎“In the last count, I had over 900 such requests, yet I have only been able to secure barely 50 positions. Even last week I managed to place just four people. This is not sustainable,” he stressed.

‎Dr. Bakari singled out polytechnics as institutions deliberately designed to be entrepreneurship and technical skills hubs, yet they have largely failed to fulfil that mandate.

‎“By their very creation, polytechnics are meant to produce middle-level technicians and entrepreneurs who will drive industrialisation and self-employment. But today, National Diploma holders rush for HND, then struggle for a degree, because the system has taught them that certificates, not skills, are the only path to survival,” he observed.

‎He cited embarrassing examples: agricultural faculties unable to demonstrate basic onion planting to students; engineering graduates who cannot repair a simple generator; states with multiple polytechnics yet forced to import artisans from neighbouring Benin, Togo, Gabon, or even Chad for basic services like plaster-of-Paris (POP) work or nursing.

‎“If we truly want a new Adamawa – a prosperous, self-reliant Adamawa – we must disrupt this abnormal thinking that everything is normal,” Dr. Bakari declared.

‎Highlighting his readiness to lead the state, supporters at the event described Dr. Bakari as a bridge-builder who connects both the high and the lowly, the elites and the masses.

‎“Dr. Salihu Girie Bakari has the experience, the exposure, the compassion, and the workable blueprint to change the story of Adamawa for good,” one supporter said. “If the people give him the opportunity to lead, education will cease to be a burden and will become the engine that powers prosperity for every household.”

‎Dr. Bakari concluded with a passionate charge to educators, youths, and policymakers: “Knowledge is everything. The destiny of Adamawa and Nigeria is in your hands. We must invest in competitive advantage through practical, skill-based education that produces job creators, not job seekers.”

Salihu while a Director of Adamawa State Universal Basic Education Board during Governor Murtala Nyako has brought into the state’s system of systematic out out of street pupils by enrolling them back to school. He employed hundreds state Indigenes as teacher to train themselves in higher school of learning that today most of them are graduate and postgraduate certificate holders.

Salihu has being a passionate Educator and school instructor with the creative idea of building a system from Education point of view. He is a brain child of Education necessity that Adamawa state should never neglect.

‎As the 2027 governorship race draws nearer, Dr. Bakari’s message of educational revolution and inclusive governance is already resonating across Adamawa State, with many describing him as the fresh, competent leadership the state desperately needs.