A leading socio-cultural organisation in Kogi State, Kogi Collectives (KC) has praised the immediate past governor of the state, Alhaji Yahaya Bello for giving the state’s Education sector a new lease of life during his tenure.
The group particularly noted that the establishment of two new universities in addition to the Prince Abubakar Audu University in Ayingba gave the three Senatorial districts a sense of belonging, as prospective university students now access admission with ease.
The group led by Chief Philip Olusesan Orebiyi and Mr. Segun Arogboni, spoke after their meeting in Lokoja , the state capital at the weekend, a statement said.
The two new universities are the Confluence University of Science and Technology, Osara for Kogi Central; Kogi State University, Kabba for Kogi West as well as the Prince Abubakar Audu University, Anyigba for Kogi East.
They added that to the credit of Yahaya Bello, he equipped and facilitated the accreditation of the College of Medicine at Prince Abubakar Audu University, Anyigba.
The new universities were established by Bello under four years, just as he gave face lifts and improved Kogi State Polytechnic, Lokoja; College of Education, Ankpa, as well as College of Education (Technical), Mopa.
According to them, “On September 21, 2023, Yahaya Bello took a visionary and audacious step by declaring free education from primary to secondary school levels in public schools in the state.”
Besides, they stated that the Yahaya Bello administration undertook to pay external examination fees for West African Examination Council (WAEC), National Examination Council (NECO) and the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) Examination for prospective tertiary institution students in the state.
They stated, “The administration of Yahaya Bello has transformed the Education landscape from one marked by neglect and decay to the one filled with hope, improved access, equity, infrastructure development and enhanced service delivery.
“One of Bello’s groundbreaking achievements in the Education sector was the allocation of 30 percent of the state’s budget to Education in each fiscal year since 2021. This allocation exceeded the UNESCO recommendation benchmark of 26 percent, thus underscoring his unparalleled commitment to Education in the state”.
Bello, they opined, has reversed the trend of out- of-school children in the state, which stood at 554,943 between 2014 and 2015 and drastically reduced to 86,803, thus ranking the state with the lowest number of out-of-school children in Nigeria as at 2019.
Bello had anticipated that every school-age child will be in the classroom this year 2024 and beyond.
Bello’s investment in primary Education includes but not limited to renovation of 833 classroom blocks, construction of 1,800 classrooms across the state and the establishment of GYB Model Science Schools in the state.
For effective implementation of his renewed Education policy, Bello made it a cardinal project to train and retrain teachers across all schools in the state.
They therefore urged Governor Usman Ododo to improve and sustain Bello’s transformation legacy in Education in the state.
Members of the Kogi collectives include but not limited to Yetunde Shuaibu, Kamal Toyin, Femi Iroja, Samuel Jemituwi, Ayobami Omoniwa , Eniola Olayemi, Mrs Janet Zubair, and Mrs Mary Alabi.
