Delta to set up education endowment fund —Okowa

DELTA State governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, has disclosed that as part of efforts to move the education sector forward, the state government would soon establish an education endowment fund for schools in the state.

The governor, who disclosed this last week in Asaba at the annual conference/general meeting of the Institute of Strategic Management, Nigeria (ISMN), Delta State chapter, explained that since the education sector is the backbone of any society, the state government would set up an education endowment fund to ensure that Deltans have access to quality education under a conducive learning environment.

Senator Okowa was at the occasion conferred with the maiden “Professor Austin Uwandulu Strategic Management Award” in recognition of his strategic and pragmatic leadership qualities.

JUST IN: Yoruba group, others protest in Abuja over killing of Fasoranti’s daughter 

He said: “The education sector is very vital to our economy as it is the breeding ground where our doctors, lawyers even future governors are groomed and nurtured. If we are faced with recession again, subventions to schools will be reduced and maintenance of our schools and ensuring that our students get the best education will be restricted.

But if our schools had endowment funds, with or without the allocations, the schools will be well taken care of. So, with that in mind, the state government will soon be establishing the education endowment fund for schools across the state.”

The governor, who was represented by the Commissioner for Higher Education, Professor Patrick Muoboghare, also emphasised the importance of partnership between the state government and the private sector to improve the economy of the state.

He explained that the development of any sector cannot be achieved by the government alone, but requires the input and support of the private sector.

“Our economy, although recovering from a recession, can only improve when investments are brought into our country and policies that will strategically strengthen our economy are implemented.

“As a government, we have been doing our very best to improve our economy and strengthen our infrastructure, but we cannot do it alone; we not only need the partnership of the private sector, but we have to ensure that policies that have been strategically designed to improve our economy are implemented,” the governor said.

He commended the institute for organising the conference saying “this meeting is timely and it is my belief that at the end we will have more solutions to tackle the challenges facing our economy.”

The national president of ISMN, Dr Emman Oyeka, stated that the conference was designed to discuss innovative ways to address the economic challenges facing the country, adding, “we need outside the box ideas that will radically improve our economy.”

Delivering the lecture on the theme of the conference: ‘Unlocking Opportunities for Economic Development in Nigeria in Line with Global Trends: A Strategic Approach,’ Mr Michael Uwaechie explained that growing the economy would not only involve the partnership between the state government and the private sector, human capital development, but would guarantee policies that would ensure the development of the economy, to be implemented and seen to fruition.