With less than two years to the end his tenure as Osun State Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola seems poised to bequeathe a lasting legacy to the state by re-invigorating the education sector with state-of-the-art classrooms that are second to none in the nation.
One hundred elementary, 50 middle and 20 high schools benefited from the construction of these classrooms. Of the 20 high schools, 11 had earlier got the classrooms built for them, while four others – Wole Soyinka Government High School, Ejigbo; Osogbo Government High School, Osogbo and Adventist Government High School, Ede, were inuagurated between November 2015 and last November. The last of them: Ataoja Government High School, Osogbo, was opened last week.
It was a joyful moment for the governor when pupils took possession of the school last week after the inauguration and commencement of learning.
Traditional rulers, religious leaders, pupils, ballad singers, cultural performers and politicians, among others graced the occasion.
An excited Aregbesola described the completion of the school as a fulfilment of one of his administration’s vision for the state.
The vision, according to the governor, was part of his six-point agenda at the inception of his two-term administration, which kicked off in 2010.
The focus of the initiative, the governor recalled, was to prepare ‘highly skilled individuals’ that would supplant the much-anticipated high tech as against the fast-fading menial jobs.
“The overall consequence of what is happening in the society now is that low skill and menial jobs will be eliminated, meaning only highly skilled individuals would be relevant in this brave new world. This is the future we are preparing our children for. Any society without this vision is going to be backward and dependent when this future arrives. We are celebrating today because we can see the future and we are confident we are on the right path,” Aregbesola said, while delivering his address tagged ‘We have seen the future.’
The governor was optimistic that next year, about 11,000 well- educated pupils would have passed out of the high schools and trained in various professions, including science and technology, entrepreneurship, priesthood, sports, arts and entertainment.
Aregbesola said each of the 3000-capacity school has four principals with three superintending over 1,000 pupils each, and an overall senior principal.
He recalled his secondary school days when seriousness and discipline were the order of the day, noting that such grooming could be replicated with responsive teachers and committed management in the state.
“We were stylish (in our school days) in the way we walked, combed our hair and ironed our uniforms. This is the grooming, the informal education that makes a complete educated person. I want to see this return to our schools. Those that are not ready to play this role have demonstrated that they have no place with us,” Aregbesola warned.
On the schools’ specifications, Aregbesola said each has 72 classrooms capable of sitting 49 pupils, six offices for study groups; six laboratories; 48 toilets for pupils with additional eight for the teachers, one science library, one arts library, facility manager’s office, a bookshop and a sickbay.
Others were Olympic-sized football field, ample parking space; multi-purpose hall; three general staff offices, a record store, fully furnished security shed/reception, borehole and power transformer, among others.
The governor noted that the state established the Osun Education Quality Assurance and Morality Enforcement Agency to keep to the benchmark, while also enforcing morality.
“It is not because we have these in surplus. It is because of the value we place on education, being fully persuaded on how it will shape the future,”he said.
Aregbesola’s deputy, Mrs Titilayo Laoye-Tomori, likened the state’s intervention in education to the need to make Osun schools centre of excellence.
“The motive of government is to make the new high schools centres of excellence in Nigeria that will produce excellent students well-grounded in Omoluabi ethos,” she said.
She continued: “It is against this backdrop that the diverse interventions of government become understandable and reasonable to the ordinary citizen. It becomes obvious therefore, that the building of new ‘state of the arts’ schools and the rehabilitation of existing ones are just steps towards the goal.”
Principal of the school, Dr. Taiwo Adeagbo, reassured the government of workers’ determination to teach and maintain the facilities.
“We will always be grateful to you. It will remain green in our memory,” Adeagbo promised.
Both head boy and head girl of the school, Afolabi Israel and Victoria Egunranti, urged the government to remain committed to qualitative education.
“He (Aregbesola) is a trail blazer and a governor with an indomitable spirit. He is the Awolowo of our time and in terms of security, he has been able to secure the school. If anyone had said it was impossible to have this structure, now, the impossible has been made possible,” Afolabi said.
