NEWS
Makinde to Spend N70bn on Road Infrastructure by 2023
Oyo State Governor, ‘Seyi Makinde, declared that by 2023, his administration would have spent close to N70 billion to build road infrastructure to connect all the five administrative zones of the state.
Makinde stated this in Iseyin, during the sod-turning ceremony for the newly-established Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Sciences of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso.
He maintained that his government would complete the 38-kilometre Oyo-Iseyin Road, the 46-kilometre Saki-Ogbooro-Igboho Road and the recently awarded 76.
7-kilometre Iseyin-Fapote-Ogbomoso Road in record time, the same way it did with the 68-kilometre Moniya-Iseyin Road.A statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Taiwo Adisa, quoted Governor Makinde as saying that the government embarked on the building of road infrastructure to connect all zones of the state and thereby expand its economy.
The statement, also quoted him as saying that all the roads would be completed before the expiration of his tenure.
He added that the new road would also ensure easy commute between the new faculty in Iseyin and the LAUTECH main campus in Ogbomoso.
Makinde stated that the foundation-laying ceremony of the Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Sciences in Iseyin was a fulfilment of his campaign promises, saying: “We are gathered here today for the turning of the sod for the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Iseyin Campus. This ceremony marks the beginning of the fulfillment of yet another promise that we made while we were on the campaign trail in 2019.
“Back then, all was not well with tertiary education in Oyo State; but we knew exactly what we needed to do to make things right. We talked about what we were going to do and even made some promises that people felt were impossible. But one after the other, we are redeeming all our pledges to the good people of Oyo State.
“For example, on this issue of tertiary education, we promised that we would work towards sole ownership of LAUTECH. We knew that we could not build anything else without that foundation and we kept that promise. As a result, the students at LAUTECH no longer have their education disrupted by strikes due to non-payment of staff salaries. Students can register at LAUTECH and be assured that a four-year course will take them four years to complete.
“Also, when we said we would take the multi-campus approach in order to bring educational development and, by extension economic development to other zones in Oyo State, some people also thought it was impossible.
“Well, with today’s event, we kept that promise.”
He stated that the state government has already released the sum of N500 Million as grant to the new Faculty to ensure its smooth take-off, noting that an additional grant of about N200 Million is coming from the Federal Government.
Governor Makinde declared that his administration remains committed to repositioning LAUTECH, stating that it has also included the expenditure for infrastructure development of the university in the 2022 Budget.
Makinde, who stated that his government’s huge investments on education was targeted at making the state the number one destination for quality learning, said the improvements in LAUTECH have already brought about the doubling of admission applications to the university from 5,000 to about 11,000 for the 2022 admission exercise.
The governor equally said that the LAUTECH management would sit down with students who are protesting over the policy that any student who failed to pay school fees would not be allowed to sit for examinations.
Buhari Emerges PAGGW Presidency
President Muhammadu Buhari has taken over the Presidency of the Pan African Great Green Wall (PAGGW) in Africa, Minister of State for Environment, Chief Sharon Ikeazor, announced yesterday in Abuja.
A statement issued by the Director, Press of the Ministry, Mr Sagir el Mohammed, said Nigeria took over at the end of the 4th Ordinary Session of the Conference of Heads of State and Government of PAGGW held on Dec. 2 in Abuja.
“At the end of the 4th Ordinary Session of the CHSG, Nigeria took over the Presidency of the PAGGW.
“So for the next two years, Nigeria and President Buhari will be the president of the Great Green Wall Initiative in Africa.
“This means that within the period, Nigeria will work assiduously towards addressing the problems of land degradation, food security, desertification, climate change, depletion of the forest ecosystems and biodiversity in Africa, among others.
“With the unparalleled commitment of Mr President in addressing issues of climate change and desertification, coupled with the immense respect he commands within the international community, a lot would be achieved during his tenure,” she said.
Ikeazor recalled the commitment of the president at the Climate Change Submit (COP26) held in November in Glasgow, Scotland.
She said the president expressed optimism about Africa’s ambition to restore over 100 million hectares of the degraded landscape for productive agriculture. (NAN)
By David Torough, Abuja
Stakeholders have expressed concern over delay in the domestication of Disability Act in Benue state and called on government to expedite passage of the law in the state.
At the stakeholders’ consultative meeting to domesticate the disability law in the state held Tuesday in Makurdi in collaboration with Inclusive friends Association (IFA), Hope Alive for Possibilities Initiative (HAPI) and JONAPWD, the Director General, Bureau for International Cooperation and Development, Dr Leonard Viashima, represented by the Technical Adviser on Bureau for International Cooperation and Development, John Akuse, however said governor Alia’s administration was willing to domesticate the law in the state.
In his address, the Special Assistant to the Governor on Disability Affairs, Bem Anshe, who doubles as the chairman of JONAPWD, stressed the need for the domestication of the law in Benue, saying it would facilitate the inclusion of people with disability in governance.
Anshe decried the non-passage of the law in the state, lamenting that Benue was the only state in the North Central yet to domesticate it.
In her remarks, the Executive Director of IFA, Grace Jerry, represented by the Programme Manager of IFA, Stephen Idoko, noted that despite the challenges, she was confident that the forum would achieve its objective if all worked together.
She noted that the presence of stakeholders in the meeting reaffirmed the collective commitment to making a lasting impact on the lives of persons with disabilities in the state.
On her part, Prof. Christy Anyogo from IFA expressed hope that Benue would soon join the league of states that have domesticated the disability law, saying governor Hyacinth Alia never looks back on whatever he wants to do.
The consultative forum was attended by stakeholders from the state ministry of Women Affairs, ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, traditional rulers, religious leaders, social investment programme agency, Albinism association of Nigeria, leprosy survivors and spinal cord injury.
From Sylvia Udegbunam, Enugu
Governor of Enugu State, Peter Mbah has charged contractors and the site engineers handling construction of the 260 smart schools and 260 Type-2 Primary Health facilities in the 260 wards of the state on the delivery of world-class projects that would stand the test of time.
Governor Mbah enjoined them to deploy quality materials and build according to specifications, warning that any sharp practices would attract stiff sanctions and rejection by the government. He equally underscored the need for contractors to deliver their projects on schedule as stipulated in their terms of contract.The governor spoke through the Secretary to the State Government, Prof Chidiebere Onyia, during an inspection tour of ongoing projects in Ezeagu LGA on Wednesday.He said the purpose of the inspection by the project’s monitoring team, which also comprises the Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Engr Gerald Otiji; Commissioner for Education, Prof Nwabueze Mbah; Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Hon. Chris Robert Ozongwu; Chairman of the Enugu State Universal Basic Education Board (ENSUBEB), Dr. Gabriel Ajah; Special Adviser to the Governor on Projects Development and Implementation, Uche Nwatu, among others, was to ensure the quality and integrity of the projects, from start to finish.”We met with the contractors and their site engineers in all the sites we’ve visited. This is to ensure that there is no variation in the work specification, and that the quality of the materials they are using, starting from the foundation to completion, could guarantee the integrity and structural tests of these projects.”What His Excellency is setting out to achieve here is to make sure that we did not run the three risks that we know that are eminent in every construction, considering that a time will come in Enugu State when we will have almost five hundred live projects – smart schools, primary healthcare facilities – in all the 260 wards, in addition to the roads constructions that are going on across the board. So, we are building a very strong monitoring team that will address the quality aspect of it.”We are also taking into consideration the cost risk that comes when the time risk begins to happen, because, once we miss the timeline, the next is that we begin to discuss variation. So, this team here is to ensure that all risks are evaluated and compliance is strictly adhered to.”We are also working on engaging with the local stakeholders to ensure the security of the process here. So, that will help us address issues around theft of materials we brought to the site. But more importantly is that at the end of each project there will be sustainability and that these stakeholders will take ownership of these schools and other projects in their communities.”So, it is not just about monitoring, but also about building on all the key facets that will make sure that these projects achieve the objectives to have smart children and smart teachers coming out of our local governments and a smart workforce for the state,” Prof Onyia stated.That’s why we have accommodation for them and we are also going to ensure that Enugu generally has a smart workforce. That’s why we are here”.He allayed the fears over the culture of abandoned projects by various strata of the government, saying that the allocation of 33 per cent of the entire 2024 budget to education has guaranteed the start, completions, and handover of the smart school projects on schedule.On his part, Chairman of ENSUBEB, Dr. Ajah, said they were happy with the quality of work so far, adding that contractors were complying with specifications and corrections were immediately effected wherever there were gaps.Admonishing communities to take ownership of the projects, he urged them to see the facilities as their own by ensuring the security of the projects.”Security is everybody’s business. The people are happy. The government has never come to the people at ward level like this before now. So, I am calling on our people to protect these projects from vandals by taking charge and ownership of them”, he concluded.
From Attah Ede, Makurdi
The Director-General, Benue State Education Quality Assurance Agency, BEQA, Dr. Terna Francis, on Thursday, said the administration of Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia is at the verge of reviving the state foreign exchange programme that was abandoned by previous administrations.
Dr. Terna, who said the foreign exchange program that had provided Benue citizens with opportunity to study abroad in the past, was abandoned due to the inability of the government to pay three million naira for those who secured foreign scholarships. The DG who disclosed while speaking with journalists in his office in Makurdi, said he had already sent a memo to the State government to reintroduce the program in order to add value to the educational system in the state.”We want to revive the foreign exchange program which was stopped because of just 3 million naira. I have already made a memo to the State government to reintroduce the program.We have some of these people who have benefited from this foreign exchange programme presently working with the state government. Some of them are in government house working while others are in other MDAs working and adding value to what we are doing”,Dr. Terna maintained. He however expressed dismay over the poor quality of education system in the State, saying there is a big mess in the quality of teaching and learning in schools across the State. “It was for this reason that the Governor Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia established this agency with the mandate to document, control and check the quality of learning in the basic and post basic education sector.”We met a mess in the education sector and we are now doing a clean up exercise . Several schools in the State have structural defects. People convert their two (2)bedroom flats into school.”The teachers are just secondary school leavers. Someone who just finished SS3 is giving a teaching job to teach SS3 physics.”Just imagine, a proprietor chokes students in a poultry farm. This is unacceptable and we are going to close the school down. Education is just for profiteering without quality.”We have been doing our best to clean up the mess. The agency is a bureau directly answerable to the Governor. Quality Assurance that means the department of Quality assurance in the Ministry of Education is directly under the agency.”It is a systemic thing. 32,000 is the fee for WAEC. But before now, the students were paying over 50,000 or more as WAEC fees.”We have called for recertification and gathering of data about quality of teachers and paying of annual renewal fees. We sent out our evaluators to confirm the data schools give to us.”I have visited over 300 schools in the State. We have warned school proprietors and proprietresses to put things in place or have their schools sealed. We are not compromising on standard and quality no matter who is involved. We are not backing down. We have the political backing.”It will amaze you to know that 2016 was the last time the examination board conducted BECE without issuing certificates.”You can imagine that a school in Makurdi is using the British curriculum and operating a semester kind of education. The students are made to pay 550,000 as fees.”We have tried to reduce bureaucracy in the establishment of schools before now, which takes up to a year, but now, it takes just a few months to get a provisional approval to establish a school.
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