- We are making it a matter of compulsion for every child to be educated
Kogi State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Kingsley Fanwo, says Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo has kept faith with his pact with the people of the state.
Fanwo made this known while featuring on TVC’s Politics Tonight on Monday.
He said Governor Ododo has consolidated well on the legacies of the immediate past administration with massive investment in education infrastructures, agriculture, healthcare delivery and other sectors.
“The administration of Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo, who prefers to be known as the Chief Servant of the state, came from the immediate past administration. He was part of the immediate past administration for 8 years. He understood the policies and programs put in place to drive the state forward. Coming to his administration, Governor Ododo is a mixture of what he is continuing from the immediate past administration and also, his own initiatives and policies that he has put in place in order to advance the frontiers of development in the state.
“There are key thematic areas of development; education, healthcare delivery, infrastructure, very aggressive drive for investments and agriculture to boost the economy of the state. When you look at all of these areas, when you put them together, the Governor has performed so well in those thematic areas,” he said.
The Commissioner noted that consistently, from 2016 till date, Kogi state government has funded education heavily, devouting huge resources in the sector.
He said the primary drive was to make public institutions of learning attractive to the people and students in the state.
“We know that education is the bedrock of development. As a result, we have been able to identify key areas through which education could be developed. One of the areas is to improve education infrastructure. We must make public schools attractive. The people and children of Kogi state must have confidence in public institutions of learning. That was the first thing we were able to do.
“We started with what we call the ‘Blue Roof Revolution’ to ensure we have excellent environment for teaching and learning. Every political ward of the 239 wards of the state had blocks of classrooms that were constructed and equipped with state-of-the-art furniture to make public schools attractive to the people of Kogi state. That was the first step.
“The second step was to migrate from primary to secondary school education. We started what we called model secondary schools in the state. We have one at Adankolo here that had been reported over and over again. It is one of the best secondary schools in Nigeria today. We have the same model in Idah, Kogi Central, and another one that is ongoing in a village called Okebukun in Kabba-Bunu local government area of the state. So, we have these model schools to take care of secondary school education.
“At the tertiary level, development has been massive. In the last few years, Kogi state government has established two new universities. We had one before the two new ones, Prince Abubakar Audu University. In all of these institutions, we are witnessing massive infrastructural development. We have turned these campuses to construction sites and just last week, some projects were handed over to contractors in Prince Abubakar Audu University. Today, the Governor was on hand at the Confluence University of Science and Technology to hand over some projects that had to do with construction of hostels and quarters for doctors at the new Confluence University of Science and Technology teaching Hospital in Okene to contractors.
“Having all of these infrastructures without teachers will always be a very serious issue. The difference between private and public schools has to do with quality of staff you have. Consistently, Kogi state government has been employing teachers to bridge that gap that was noticed before 2015.
“The present administration has been able to build on the legacy of the immediate past government and has surpassed that legacy by pumping more resources. For the first time, we are almost surpassing 30% budgetary allocation compared to UNESCO benchmark of 26%. Education is on the front burner as far as Kogi state government is concerned.”
Fanwo stressed that the progressive policies of the state government since 2016 has reduced number of out-of-school children.
He said the state government is making it a matter of compulsion for every child to be educated.
“In northern Nigeria, Kogi has the lowest out-of-school children, and one the best in the country. This boils down to the policies and confidence we have brought back to public schools. Kogi state has an education law which ensured our free education policy is total.
“It is not like they should not pay tuition but mandated to pay registration fee. From common entrance to BECE, NECO, WAEC and JAMB, all examination is free in Kogi state. The state government is paying for all that. What we are doing is to ensure that from primary to secondary school, you don’t pay a dime. That makes it convenient for pupils to come to school. When you leave the secondary school and get to higher institution, Kogi state government is also paying bursary. Hundreds of millions on Naira has gone into bursary payments under the present administration of Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo.
“We are making it a matter of compulsion for every child to be educated. It is their right and Kogi state government is rising to the occasion to that it is free and qualitative,” he said.
On security, Fanwo said “Kogi state is grateful to the federal government and Nigeria is also grateful to Kogi state because a safe Kogi is a safe Nigeria.
“We are bordered by 10 other states, including the federal capital territory. If there is insecurity in Kogi state it will of concern to the entire nation
“Apart from education, healthcare and agriculture, security is one sector that is taking a large chunk of the resources of the state. We are doing things a different way under the Ododo administration; bottom-top approach. We are giving communities more responsibilities in ensuring security in their domains. We are recruiting, training and engaging local vigilante to provide intelligence, attack every acts of insecurity in their domains and network with conventional security agencies
“Weeks ago, there was a major operation that neutralized hundreds of bandits, kidnappers and terrorists. We lost about three operatives.
“Under the Safe Schools initiative, we are doing everything possible to ensure the safety of our students. Currently, we are investing in technology to enhance security in our schools.”
