BY MAIRIGA Juliana, Minna
Governor Abubakar Sani Bello of Niger state has restated that his administration will remain committed to the promotion of sustainable education that would meet Nigeria’s present day needs with more emphasis on job creation rather than waiting for non-existing white collar jobs.
Education standards has fallen beyond expectations of Nigerlites, this according to Governor Bello prompted his administration to evolve strategies that would entails overhauling the system to make it more responsive to the needs of the government and people of Niger state.
Governor Bello spoke at the flag-off the maiden editions of, National Association of Niger State Students (NANISS) skills acquisition programme, which took place at Idris Legbo Kutigi international conference centre, Minna.
Bello apparently responding to the poor rating of graduates produced by some of the state owned tertiary institutions when compared to their counterparts from citadels across Nigeria said, ‘we will continue to invest in education with the aim of improving the quality of our graduates’.
“Our education standard is almost dead. It was not killed by the present administration, we met it that way but that notwithstanding, we are putting all hands on deck to ensure that we get quality education that will produce quality graduates that Niger state deserve”, he said.
Governor Sani Bello however maintained that, “Though education is very expensive and difficult for most politicians to acquire because of the gestation period, if we must as government invest in our children and their future then, we must invest in education”.
The sad realities in Nigeria today is that most graduates cannot defend whatever grades they attain, Bello said, as he lamented that, “The quality of our graduates continues to fall by the day because the very basic foundation, the primary school level is no longer what it used to be.”
Sani Bello attributed the falling standards of education in Niger state to a number of factors, including; ‘decayed infrastructure, limited number of teachers as well as lack of qualified teachers at the elementary school level’.
The situation became so embarrassing that the state government came up with the idea of establishing training institutes.
“To save the system from total collapse, we decided to establish 3 teacher’s training institutions, one in each of the 3 senatorial zones”.
While encouraging youths in the state on the need to engage themselves in skills acquisition programs through which they can earn a living and make them independent of themselves, Governor Bello reminded those depending on white collar jobs that such jobs are hard to find.
Guest Speaker, Prof. Ahmad Sadauki, in a paper titled, “Education in Niger state: The need for a Sustainable Development”, urged the state government to see education as a continuous hope the society revolves round to increasingly create and maintain position of relevance in the committee of nations.
Professor Sadauki also advised the Governor Bello led administration on the need to continue to promote sustainable education in the state by ensuring that the facilities made available in schools are not only up to date but well maintained for use by generations to come.
Part of measures towards revamping education sector in Niger state, Professor Sadauki said should include, training and retraining of teachers to equip them with desired knowledge impact expected knowledge on students.
National President of NANISS, Comrade Lawal Abugi had also in an address emphasized on the importance of education to the building of a better society, adding that, ‘There can never be growth without education.
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