Oyetola insistence on Egalitarian Basic Education not Negotiable – Fatai Kolawole

By Jamiu Ganiyu, Osogbo

A topnotch educationist in the State of Osun and Permanent Secretary, State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Alhaji Fatai Kolawole has said the desire of the Governor of the State, Gboyega Oyetola to provide egalitarian basic education for all citizens of the state is not negotiable.

The Osun SUBEB helmsman gave the assurance at the weekend while delivering a lecture to a cross-section of Obafemi Awolowo University Students at a memorial lecture organised by the National Association of Osun State Students, NAOSS, OAU, Ile-Ife chapter, in honour of the late Cicero of Africa, Chief Bola Ige titled : ”History and Values of Osun State: Determining Factor for the future,” was well attended by students, senior government officials, policymakers and academic gurus among others.

According to the SUBEB PS, the Osun Governor’s insistence on egalitarian education for all is evident from his deep commitment to harnessing all the available resources at his disposal to provide a virile educational system for the citizenry despite the obvious financial constraints that are seriously affecting governance in Osun and even Nigeria as a whole.

He further said that Governor Oyetola is making sure that all citizens of the State get qualitative, functional and relevant education as laid down by the founding fathers of the State and Southwestern region.

The Osun SUBEB PS who was represented at the special lecture by one of the senior staff of the Board, Mrs. Kolade, Officer in charge basic education literacy desk, listed some of the far-reaching reforms and innovations that the administration of All Progressives Congress has brought to the education sector in the State since almost nine years of the party at the helms of affairs.

Some of the improvements as listed were : re-classification of schools for easy administration, rejuvenation of O-MEAL programme which has now been adopted by federal government and most of the states of the federation, massive construction of state of the art schools now being copied by the Federal Governments and other States, massive production and supply of pupils and teachers furniture to all schools (hitherto before then, parents used to carry chairs and tables to schools on resumption of their wards) and recruitment of more teachers as well as training and retraining of teachers among others.

In addition, the SUBEB boss said the state government has introduced unified subjects scheme of work and examinations to ensure that pupils in the state are taught and assessed at same level across all the public schools in the state while one day community involvement was initiated in schools to instill community spirit in the pupils and also to teach them the importance of community development.

In his conclusion, Kolawole said education is viewed by Gboyega Oyetola and his immediate predecessor as a cornerstone, pillar and indeed a determinant of future development of the State, the Southwestern region and Nigeria as a nation.

Extolling the late legal icon and former federal minister, he described Bola Ige, “the Cicero of Africa” as a pragmatic and dogged politician who he said served his nation, Nigeria and humanity at large.