By Ogenyi Ogenyi,Uyo
The imprints of Governor Umo Eno’s ARISE Agenda on basic education infrastructure in Akwa Ibom as evident in the ongoing remodelling of CKS Primary School to be replicated in the 31 Local Councils has attracted accolades from the Federal Government.
The Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman, conveyed the commendations during a tour of the remodelled School led by the Eno last weekend.
Mamman, who was in Uyo for the celebration of the University of Lagos 1984 Law Class reunion, was overtly impressed by the initiative and imprints of the Governor and described the gesture as creating attractive environment and enticement to boost enrollment in schools.
This, the minister said, was in line with President Tinubu’s vision of reversing the decline in school enrollments, given the importance he attaches to education at the basic level and therefore acknowledged the need for collaboration between the local government, State and the FG to get it right.
“Indeed, there is hope for us as a country with the effort of all the Governors and every body and the federal Government working together collaboratively.
“For us at the federal level, particularly the President, Bola Amed Tinubu, that is our area of focus. We want the out-of school children to be a matter of history, and this is the way to do it.” the Minister said.
The Governor had earlier said that his administration’s determination to pay attention to education at the primary level was informed by the need to spur up the willingness and passion for education among school children.
He reiterated the need for the state and federal governments to collaborate in revamping the primary education, healthcare, amongst others, to the advantage of the states and country in general.
“We call upon the federal Government to support what we are doing. It is about children and the future of our children. Again, I want to underscore something here that the Federal and State Government can collaborate”, he emphasised.
Reiterating his passion for rural development, the Governor said his target is to replicate the model school across the 31 Local Government Areas, adding that the model propagation will be complemented with teachers training to ensure a complete facelift for primary education in the state.
He stressed his administration’s strong inclination towards rural development and resort to infrastructure upgrade in primary schools and healthcare facilities as strategy to attain rural development, soliciting the support and collaboration of companies and other well-placed individuals in such regards.
“I am passionate about the rural development but you also know that education is the foundation. Lack of education carries with it a lot of danger. So our ambition is to see what we can do, not just the building. We will furnish it, train the teachers, ensure that we do a total facelift in our primary education.” Eno said.
