Yobe Govt to Fete International Debate Champions Nafisah Abdullah, Rukayya Muhammad

ZAINAB JUNAID

Yobe state Governor, Hon. (Dr) Mai Mala Buni CON, has approved a grand ceremony to honour 17 year old Nafisa Abdullah and 15 year old Rukayya Muhammad Fema, who made history by emerging World best in English language skills and overall debate competitions respectively at the 2025 TeenEagle Global Finals in London, United Kingdom.

Representing Nigeria, the duo from Nigerian Tulip International College, Yobe State, outshined 20,000 participants from 69 countries, bringing glory to the State and Nigeria.

According to a statement signed by Mamman Mohammed, Director General, Press and Media Affairs to the Governor, Nafisa and Rukayya are both beneficiaries of Gov. Mai Mala Buni’s scholarship programme, covering full tuition for 890 students at the Nigeria Tulip International College.

Gov. Buni described the outstanding performances as a great honour to the state and country, stating, “These are great feats that makes us proud and justifies the government’s investment in the education sector”.

He assured that his administration would continue to subsidise education for every child in the state to have the opportunity to go school, and appealed to parents for cooperation.

“Government has reconstructed schools destroyed by the protracted insurgency, provided furniture, books, laboratory equipment and employed more qualified teachers to improve the quality content of education in the state, and it is still a work in progress,” he said.

The statement reads further “Currently, there are about 40,000 Yobe state stdents on government scholarship, studying various courses in universities and other tertiary institutions in Nigeria and overseas.

“It would be recalled that, a few months ago, the state celebrated the graduation of 167 beneficiaries of the state-funded scholarship programme who graduated in medical sciences, computer science and engineering from Indian Universities”.