Education: Emulate Fayose, Afenifere charges South West governors

THE Pan Yoruba Socio-Political group, Afenifere, has urged all the state governors across the South West region to emulate Fayose, charging the governors to prioritise education in their various states.

The group also commended the Ekiti State governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose, for changing the face of education in the state.

This commendations was contained in a statement issued and signed by the Secretary General of the group, Bashorun Sehinde Arogbofa, who said the feat was evident with the students from the state representing the country in an international School Debate Competition in Singapore

According to the group, the feat recorded by the state resulted from the radical measures taken by the state government towards the development of education in Ekiti State.

Arogbofa stated in the statement that “on the basis of this feat, Ekiti State has been selected by the Presidency to represent Nigeria in an International School Debate Competition in Singapore, with four secondary school students from the state representing Nigeria”

He listed some of the feats recorded by Fayose administration in education sector to include: producing the best student in the Genius Illumina International competition, first position in the National Junior Water Price Competition at Sokoto State and coming first in the 2016 Edition of Inter-State Science Teachers Association of Nigeria (STAN) National Quiz Competition

Others include producing Overall Best Student in the 2016 STAN organised competition, winning the Junior Engineers Technologists and Scientists (JETS) Inter-State Science Quiz Competition, winning the ANCOPPS organised Southwest Debate Competition for secondary school students in February 2017 in Akure, Ondo state and the best in the Young Nigerian Scientist Presidential Award, held in Abuja in March, 2017.

The group also commended Fayose for rewarding hard work and excellence saying “Fayose has announced cash award of N2.5m, full scholarship in any course, at undergraduate level in any Nigerian public university for Master Adedipe Oluwatosin of Shepherd International College, Ado Ekiti, who won the award.

They empahasised the need to reward academic excellence saying to encourage academic excellence, students who perform exceptionally we in academics should be highly regarded while teachers should be motivated too.

“The governor also gave the school, which produced Master Adedipe Oluwatosin a sum of N1.5m, his class teacher N500,000 and his lesson teacher N500,000.”

Afenifere described education as a vital tool to national development and emphasised the need for all the state governors across the South West region to emulate Fayose, urging the governors to prioritise education in their various states.

The group also urged Fayose not to relent in his quest to reposition education in Ekiti state saying education sector can be used to drive the society economic renaissance of the state