Segun Awofadeji in Bauchi
The acting Governor of Bauchi State, Nuhu Gidado, has challenged the 17th quarterly meeting of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) and the 36 States Universal Basic Education Boards (SUBEB) to come up with far reaching policies that will improve the standard of education to make life meaningful, especially for the future generation of Nigerians.
Gidado, who stated this in Bauchi when the Minister of State for Education, Professor Anthony Anwuka led Chairmen of UBEC and SUBEB from the 36 states and Abuja on a courtesy call, assured the minister of the state’s commitment to fully implementing all policies formulated to transform the sector, which the “administration of Governor Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar holds dearly.”
The acting governor, who doubles as the Commissioner for Education, regretted the complete dilapidation of schools and the sorry state of education in the state when the administration assumed office in 2015.
He described it as “almost nonexistent” and pointed out that with the prioritisation of education with 20 per cent of the state’s 2016 budget and the appointment of the deputy governor to oversee the ministry of education by the Abubakar administration, the ugly state of education is gradually being reversed.
Gidado said education is taken by the Abubakar administration as “basically the bedrock of any societal living” adding that the administration had resolved to overhaul the sector, especially the negative attitude of critical stakeholders of the sector.
He explained that the poor state of education made the government to embark on capacity training for teachers who had not undergone any training for decades; as well as intensive management training for over 700 School Based Management Committee members from different schools in parts of the state.
The acting governor told the minister that from 2015 when the present administration took the oath of office, no policy issue on education was ever put down by the governor.
He said because the present administration in the state pays adequate attention to the provision of security of life and property, “with the help of God,” Bauchi has remained more peaceful than all states in the northeast, resulting in the influx of nearly 3 million people fleeing the insurgency to the state.
In his remarks, Anwuka told the acting governor that the UBEC’s meeting with SUBEB of the 36 states in Bauchi was to discuss pertinent issues that affect education at the basic level, with a view to proffering possible solutions to the problems bedeviling the sector.
While appreciating the hospitality of the state, the minister said promised that the meeting would deliberate on the most critical issues that affect education at the basic level.
The meeting was Gidado’s major public state function since he assumed duty as acting governor on January 9, 2017 following the commencement of leave of Governor Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar.
