Rt. Hon. Umar Mohammed Bago, the Executive Governor of Niger State, who is a resident of Minna, supported the Indigenous Languages Learning Centre (ILLEC) when he was a member of the Federal House of Representatives for Chanchaga Local Government of Niger State by sponsoring the first set of students (20) to start the Nigeria Certificate of Education (NCE) in Nupe Language at the Niger State College of Education, Minna. ILLEC was the primary advocate for starting the programme and was left to scout for the beginner students. That is where Hon. Bago stepped in by paying for the students. That feat by both ILLEC and Bago becomes the first time that Nupe language would be studied at that higher level of Education, in Nigeria, where the officially trained Teachers of Nupe will emerge in 2024.
Hon. Bago has also been a supporter of the Hill-Top Creative Arts Foundation. In 2018, he financed the excursion undertaken by the Foundation to Zungeru Town, and the new Hydropower station there. Also, he went ahead to finance the publication of a book arising from the trip. Zungeru is the birth place of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Nigeria’s first president and Odumegwu Ojukwu, the late Biafran leader. It is a colonial town. Bago made contributions to HIASFEST as well.
Before being swore in as the Governor of Niger State, Hon. Bago inaugurated the Niger State Schools Creativity and Essay Competition for secondary schools in Niger State. All these make him a patron of the art in Minna.