On November 12, Governor Godwin Obaseki clocked one year in office. Some tertiary institutions shut down are yet to resume. However, he pledges to stay true to his promises, reports OSAGIE OTABOR.
It has been one year since Godwin Obaseki took over from Adams Oshiomhole as Edo State Governor.
Unlike his predecessor who built and renovated several primary and secondary schools across the state, Obaseki has adopted a different approach.
When he unveiled his plans for basic education at a workshop, Obaseki promised to have an Information and Communication Technology-based plan that would adequately prepare pupils for the challenges of the 21st Century. He disclosed that his emphasis would be on teacher training and professionalism.
So far, Obaseki has focused on restoring sanity to school administration. He ordered the removal of illegal structures from school premises, stopped the use of school fields for social activities such as funerals and marriages, and banned principals from collecting illegal fees from pupils for the purchase of uniforms and other items. Four principals caught in the act were demoted to classroom teachers.
Obaseki’s Special Adviser on Basic Education Dr Joan Osa Oviawe said her principal was deliberate in his policies regarding education to ensure that infrastructure were provided only where needed.
She said: If we came in and started building schools, people will say he has started doing something. He is someone that works with a plan. Our education is in such a way that he wants to build on the good work of previous administrations in that sector. Taking it to the next level requires some planning. Before we start building new schools, we must first know whether we need to build new schools. That is important.”
However something is happening in the technical/vocational education space regarding construction. Obaseki recently approved the upgrade of facilities at the former Benin Technical College in Ugbowo. It has been renamed the Government College of Science and Technology (GSCT) and is expected to commence admission next year.
Nine existing buildings will be refurbished, new classrooms and dormitories are being constructed along with a number of workshops and laboratories.
When completed, the GCST would enroll 1,500 students with plans to increase the number to between 2000 and 5000.
At the flag-off of the school reconstruction, Obaseki said the project would be an example of sustainable development pathway. He promised that the students would get the best of technical education, work with latest tools and equipment, and provide the essential technical expertise needed in the state and the country at large.
“My long-term vision for this site is to ensure that we build a light Industrial Park. This will ensure that business and knowledge seat side by side, working for the benefits of the Edo people. We are including solar power, harvesting water in the design. We have ensured that there is a strong framework for local participation at the project design stage,” he said.
In the tertiary education space, there have been some disruptions. Academic activities have been suspended at the Edo State Polytechnic at Usen and the College of Agriculture, Iguoriakhi, in Ovia South West, for about two months now. Also, the College of Education, Ekiadolor is gradually winding down to give way to the Tayo Akpata University of Education, Ekiadolor. No new students have been accepted into the college since the Edo State House of Assembly repealed its law in 2014. However, the new university is yet to start operations.
For more than five years now, the state- owned School of Nursing and Midwifery has not been accredited. The students have protested severely over the non-accreditation of courses in the institution situated on Sapele Road. The implication is that they have had to complete their programmes in other nursing schools to graduate.
Obaseki has set up several committees to address the problems of the various institutions.
In May, Obaseki set-up a committee to work out modalities for the re-accreditation of the institution with a view to making the school a world-class hub for Nursing and Midwifery.
Obaseki charged the committee to come up with a blueprint that would stand the institution out.
“I want us to build a world class Nursing school. When we reposition the school, we will be able to train our people to address quackery in the state and raise health standards in the state,” he said.
In July, Obaseki also set up a seven-man committee headed by Prof Rose Egonmwan to address issues at the Edo State Polytechnic, Usen, including to: “examine its administrative structure, establish the actual students’ population (both regular and non – regular students ) against the accredited schools and departments; investigate the quality of the training programmes; as well as examine the finances of the Institute in the area of revenue generation, expenditure, transparency, accountability and observance of due process.
As for the College of Agriculture, Iguoriakhi a team headed by Prof Anthony Durojaiye Ologhobo is looking into how the institution could be repositioned to fulfil the Governor’s vision develop the state via investments in the agricultural sector.
“The fact that we do not have a strong institution or college to help government with its developmental objectives is a thing of concern. We need this school revamped urgently to help us grow and develop middle-level man power to achieve the goals of our administration and to make our country self-sufficient in food production,” Obaseki said.
Secretary to the State Government, Osarodion Ogie, other members of the team include: representatives of Presco Oil, Okomu Oil, Nigeria Institute for Oil Palm Research (NIFOR), Rubber Research Institute of Nigeria, Rubber Estate of Nigeria and Leventis Farms Ltd.
Though the Governing Council Chairman of the Tayo Akpata University of Education, Thomas Okosun, said the institution would beginning admitting students this month, nothing has happened so far and no infrastructure has been put in place in the land the government had acquired for the institution.
In September, Okosun had told The Nation that the state government was in the process of awarding contract for the building of the new facilities at the university which included roads within and outside the campus, new hostels and classrooms.
When he made “Thank You” tours of the Local Government Areas as part of activities to mark his first year in office, Obaseki said his administration would support the College of Education at Igueben to get all its programmes accredited and reposition the school with a view to making it one of the best.
His first visit to the institution was in May. Then Obaseki gave a 90-day ultimatum to the institution management to get the college ready for accreditation even as he assured of immediate response to addressing some of its teething challenges.
The coming months will show if the many promises and actions of Obaseki would boost the education sector in Edo State.
