- Civil society organisation accuses government of a decade of failure, says “dead” Confluence Transport has left citizens at the mercy of private operators
On the occasion of World Teachers’ Day, a Lokoja-based rights group, the Conscience for Human Rights and Conflict Resolution (CHRCR), has called on the Kogi State Government to urgently recruit more teachers and declare a state of emergency in the state’s transport sector.
In a press statement signed by its Executive Director, Idris Miliki Abdul, the organisation paid tribute to teachers, noting that without them there would be no doctors, lawyers, engineers, judges, governors or even presidents.
The group urged the state government to employ more teachers in basic schools in particular, and across all educational institutions in Kogi State, as a matter of urgency. It also said teachers deserve special treatment and that many schools in the state need rehabilitation and improvement.
Beyond the classroom, the group turned its attention to the state’s transport system. It called for transportation to be provided across all local government areas to assist students, saying current fuel prices have imposed severe hardship on pupils and students in the state.
According to the statement, the transport sector has been left almost entirely in private hands. The organisation questioned what the Ministry of Transportation is doing to ease the suffering of citizens.
CHRCR also accused the state government of failing to improve transport services in the last ten years. It said the Confluence Transport, inherited by the present administration, is dead, and that its staff were thrown out into the labour market.
The group called on the current administration to declare a state of emergency in the transport sector. It urged the government to key into the Federal Government’s initiative, as well as those of several other state governments, to help alleviate the situation facing Kogi citizens.
