LEADERSHIP
Who leads the Ministry
The Honourable Commissioner for Education carries political responsibility for the sector; the Permanent Secretary is the accounting officer and the head of the professional service. Ten directorates and eight board executives report through them.
Political direction and professional administration
The Ministry is led on two lines that meet at the top. The Honourable Commissioner for Education is appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the House of Assembly. He carries the sector in the State Executive Council, defends the education budget, signs policy, and answers publicly for what the sector does. The Permanent Secretary is a career civil servant. She is the accounting officer, responsible for every naira released and every posting made, and she is the head of the professional service through which policy is actually carried out.
Below them the Ministry is organised into ten directorates, each led by a Director who owns a defined part of the work and is answerable for it. Alongside the directorates, the executive heads of the eight boards and agencies manage the schools, libraries, learning centres and capital projects of the State, each reporting to the Commissioner through the Permanent Secretary.
The Commissioner, the Permanent Secretary and the directors
Correspondence to any officer below should be addressed through the Permanent Secretary and copied to the directorate concerned.
Dr. Yusuf Kabir Danbatta
Honourable Commissioner for Education
Ph.D (Educational Policy)
A former teacher, principal and college provost appointed Commissioner in 2023 with a mandate to raise transition into senior secondary and to complete the integration of the Tsangaya system. He chairs the State Education Sector Steering Committee and presents the sector budget to the House of Assembly.
commissioner@moe.kn.gov.ngHajiya Aisha Lawal Gwarzo
Permanent Secretary
M.Ed (Educational Administration)
A career officer of the Kano State civil service who has served in the Ministry for over two decades, latterly as Director of Planning, Research and Statistics. As accounting officer she authorises every release to a board and signs the Ministry's annual account.
permsec@moe.kn.gov.ngDr. Rabi'atu Kabir Dala
Director, Basic Education
Ph.D (Curriculum Studies)
Joined the Ministry as a primary school inspector in Dala in 1998 and has served in the basic education directorate since 2011. She chairs the committee that sets the annual capitation allocation to each of the 44 local government education authorities.
basic.education@moe.kn.gov.ngMalam Garba Yahaya Minjibir
Director, Senior Secondary Education
M.Ed (Educational Administration)
A former principal of two government secondary schools in the Kano North zone, appointed to the directorate in 2018. He supervises the placement of JSS 3 leavers into senior secondary, science and technical places each July.
senior.secondary@moe.kn.gov.ngEngr. Ibrahim Sule Karaye
Director, Science, Technical & Vocational Education
B.Sc (Ed) Technical Education
A registered engineer who taught technical drawing and workshop practice for eleven years before moving into the inspectorate. He led the 2023 refit of eighteen school laboratories under the trust fund equipment window.
technical@moe.kn.gov.ngDr. Nasiru Aliyu Gezawa
Director, Planning, Research & Statistics
Ph.D (Educational Planning)
Has run the Annual School Census since 2016 and rebuilt it as a digital enumeration covering every school in the State within six weeks. His directorate signs off the statistics published on the reports pages of this site.
planning@moe.kn.gov.ngHajiya Saudat Abdulkadir Bichi
Director, Quality Assurance & Inspectorate
M.Ed (Measurement & Evaluation)
A career inspector who has led whole-school evaluations in all six zones and now manages a field team of 240 education officers. She signs the improvement notices that follow a failed inspection.
quality@moe.kn.gov.ngMalam Auwalu Sale Kiru
Director, Teacher Development
M.Ed (Science Education)
Spent fourteen years lecturing at a college of education before joining the Ministry in 2015. He coordinates the annual subject-mastery clinics that reach roughly 18,000 teachers each long vacation.
teacher.development@moe.kn.gov.ngAlhaji Kabiru Umar Tofa
Director, Finance & Accounts
B.Sc (Ed) Business Education
Has managed the Ministry's accounts since 2019 and prepares the quarterly budget performance report published on this site. He is the accounting officer's adviser on every release made to a board.
finance@moe.kn.gov.ngHajiya Amina Sulaiman Ungogo
Director, Administration & Human Resources
M.Ed (Educational Management)
Came to the Ministry from the State civil service commission in 2017. Her directorate handles staff postings, the annual promotion exercise and every request for a transfer between offices.
admin@moe.kn.gov.ngMalam Sulaiman Hamza Wudil
Director, Examinations
M.Ed (Measurement & Evaluation)
Has run the State examination cycle since 2020, from the March Common Entrance through to the July Qualifying Examination. He is the officer who authorises the release of a withheld or corrected result.
exams@moe.kn.gov.ngMalama Halima Bala Tarauni
Director, Special & Inclusive Education
B.Ed (Special Education)
A teacher of the deaf by training who taught at the Kano School for the Deaf for nine years. She oversees twelve special schools and the inclusive units attached to 168 mainstream primary schools.
inclusive@moe.kn.gov.ngHow a decision is made here
From a problem noticed in a school to an instruction that binds every school in the State.
The directorate prepares a memorandum
The directorate that owns the subject sets out the problem, the evidence from census or inspection, the options and the cost. Finance and Accounts certifies whether the money exists before the memorandum goes further.
Ministry Management Committee
The Permanent Secretary chairs the ten directors and the eight board executives every fortnight. The committee tests the memorandum, amends it, and either settles it at officer level or sends it to the Commissioner.
The Commissioner decides or escalates
Matters within the Ministry's own authority are settled by the Commissioner. Anything requiring new money, a change in law, or a commitment across ministries goes to the State Executive Council as a memorandum in his name.
Executive Council and, where needed, the Assembly
Council approval binds the whole of government. Where the decision needs a law or a supplementary appropriation, it goes on to the House of Assembly, and the Commissioner appears before the committee on education to defend it.
A circular issues, and the inspectorate follows it
The decision reaches schools as a numbered circular signed by the Permanent Secretary, published at /resources/policies, with an effective date. Compliance becomes a line on the next inspection schedule.
Standing committees
The bodies through which the leadership takes recurring decisions. Minutes are held by the Directorate of Administration and Human Resources.
| Committee | What it decides | Chair | Meets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ministry Management Committee | Policy memoranda, releases to the boards, sector performance against target | Permanent Secretary | Fortnightly |
| State Education Sector Steering Committee | The sector plan, partner-financed programmes, cross-government commitments | Honourable Commissioner | Quarterly |
| Schools Approval Committee | Grant, refusal, renewal, variation and revocation of school approvals | Director, Quality Assurance & Inspectorate | Monthly |
| Examinations Board | Examination timetable, centre accreditation, withheld and corrected results | Director, Examinations | Termly, and on call |
| Teacher Establishment Committee | Postings, transfers, the establishment of each school and promotion recommendations | Director, Administration & Human Resources | Monthly |
| Projects and Procurement Review | Capital project pipeline, contractor performance and payment certificates | Permanent Secretary | Monthly |
The heads of the eight boards and agencies
Each executive head manages their own estate and answers to the Commissioner through the Permanent Secretary. Write to them directly on anything concerning a school they manage.
Dr. Aminu Ibrahim Danbatta
Executive Chairman, State Universal Basic Education Board
Ph.D (Educational Administration)
Chairs the board that carries the largest estate in the State: 3,200 basic schools and rather more than two million pupils. He came to the post in 2021 after eight years as a zonal education director in Kano North.
subeb@moe.kn.gov.ngAlhaji Musa Abdullahi Rano
Executive Secretary, Kano State Senior Secondary Schools Management Board
M.Ed (Educational Administration)
Was principal of two of the State's largest senior secondary schools before taking charge of the Board. He supervises SS 1 placement, principal postings and the coordination of the external examination season.
kssmb@moe.kn.gov.ngEngr. Sanusi Bala Kabo
Executive Secretary, Science and Technical Schools Board, Kano State
B.Sc (Ed) Technical Education
A registered engineer who spent his early career in workshop practice at a government technical college. He has led the Board since 2022 and drives its partnership with industry on apprenticeship placement.
stsb@moe.kn.gov.ngSheikh Abubakar Shehu Ja'afar
Executive Secretary, Kano State Qur'anic and Islamiyyah School Management Board
Ph.D (Islamic Studies)
A scholar of Islamic studies who has taught in both the Tsangaya and the formal systems. He leads the integration programme that has brought 480 Tsangaya schools into registration, feeding and basic literacy.
ksqismb@moe.kn.gov.ngHajiya Hadiza Bello Fagge
Executive Secretary, Kano State Private And Voluntary Institute
M.Ed (Educational Management)
Ran the Ministry's approvals desk for six years before the Institute was given its own secretariat. She signs every approval, renewal and revocation affecting a private, community or mission school in Kano State.
pvib@moe.kn.gov.ngDr. Maryam Idris Bichi
Executive Secretary, Kano State Library Board
Ph.D (Library & Information Science)
A librarian by profession who has catalogued the State's Arabic-script manuscript collection. She has extended the network to 30 service points and opened a children's corner in every zonal library.
library@moe.kn.gov.ngHajiya Zainab Muhammad Kura
Executive Secretary, The Kano State Agency for Mass Education
M.Ed (Adult & Non-Formal Education)
Began as a literacy facilitator in Gwale and has spent her career in adult education. She oversees 640 community literacy circles teaching in Hausa and English, most of them for women.
masseducation@moe.kn.gov.ngArc. Nafisa Auwal Minjibir
Executive Secretary, The Kano State Education Development Support Board
M.Sc (Architecture)
A registered architect who joined the Board at its creation in 2019. She is responsible for the project pipeline, the contractor register and the publication of percentage completion for every project the fund pays for.
edtf@moe.kn.gov.ngReaching the leadership
How do I write to the Honourable Commissioner?
Can I request a courtesy visit or a meeting?
My matter has been with a directorate for weeks. Whom do I escalate to?
Who speaks for the Ministry to the press?
Are these appointments political?
Correspondence protocol
All formal correspondence is addressed to the Permanent Secretary and copied to the directorate or board concerned. Letters addressed to an individual officer by name are re-routed and lose time.
Public counter hours are Monday to Friday, 8:00 to 16:00. Main line +234 803 700 1420. Toll-free 0800 MOE KANO. Email info@moe.kn.gov.ng.
Reach the right office first time
Most matters are settled faster at the local government education authority or the managing board than at headquarters.