The Tikuma family in the Northern Region over the weekend commissioned a newly constructed 150-bed dormitory block with auxiliary facilities for the Nuriya Islamic Senior High School in Tamale.
The intervention was the initiative of Alhaji Halim Tikuma, a businessman cum politician, together with his siblings, to honour the name of their late father, who passed away in November 2024.
The deceased, identified as Alhaji Haruna Gurundoo, was a scholar and an Islamic teacher at the Nuriya Islamic Institute for several years. He was highly revered in the northern region for his scholarly prowess and commitment to promoting a peaceful society.
Alhaji Halim Tikuma, who championed the project in a brief interaction, eulogised his late father, stating he was a person with deep love for education [both secular and Islamic], despite not having the opportunity for formal education.
He said as his children, “We honour his memory by building an educational facility at Nuriya Islamic Senior High School, a recently established institution that is also our alma mater.”
The Headmaster of the school, Adam Ibrahim Gunu, in his address during the handing over ceremony last Saturday (October 25, 2025) said the school desperately needed the facility, which was immediately converted into a girls’ dormitory.
”At a point in time, I was putting so much pressure on Alhaji Halim, and even sometimes I had to go to Sheikh himself, and they wondered why I was putting pressure on them.
”This is because we needed it badly and the students cannot wait for the headmaster to tell them to pack in” he stated.
He disclosed that the student population presently is about 797 students, but lamented that the school is challenged with accommodation and other critical infrastructure facilities such as the Administration block, Assembly Hall, dining hall, classrooms and water storage facilities, to enhance teaching and learning.
He also mentioned the school doesn’t have a school bus or pick-up vehicle for administrative purposes, hindering the movement of the management and the students anytime there’s a need.
Mr. Gunu seized the opportunity to commend former Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, for putting up a storey building facility for them.
He also made a passionate appeal to the Minister for Education to support the school with some GETFund projects, a school bus and a pick-up.
Meanwhile, the Northern Regional Director of Education, Mr. Alhassan Alidu Jnr, in an address delivered on his behalf, commended the Tikuma family for constructing such an edifice to support the school.
He highlighted that infrastructure is the bedrock of quality education and maintained that teaching and learning would not be effective without adequate infrastructure.
The Regional Director said education is a shared responsibility and all stakeholders in the value-chain which includes benevolent individuals, have significant roles to play to transform the sector.
“I want to use this platform to appeal to other benevolent bodies, individuals to come to the aid of Nuriya Senior High School, and hope we will get more of this edifice.
“And once we get this, those of us in education, our concern is not how beautiful it is but how this structure can be translated into teaching and learning,” he stated.
He therefore called on the school management to put the facility to good use and ensure its proper maintenance.
