… Established Two Universities, Affirmed Free Primary And Secondary Schools Education

LOKOJA – Kogi State in North Central Nigeria un­der the immediate past governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, arguably was neither the bride nor did she profit from the good­will of many Nigerians on account of largely unpalatable reports.

The incessant unpalatable reports of violence, killings, kidnappings and of late, corruption did not assuage the situation.

The reports of these vices arguably dimin­ished and indeed paled to the insignificant so­cio-economic and political developments in the state.

All indices point to the fact that Kogi State is crisis-ridden coupled with allegations of ill-pay­ment to civil servants and pensioners. Yahaya Bello remains the epicentre of the diagnostic. He is vilified and derided by many.

Arguably, no decent society would sweep away the alleged level of infractions or insecurity in the state if proven. The narrative in Kogi is in­teresting, intriguing and conversely so.

Curiously, no one has given credit to Yahaha Bello for initiating and indeed implementing free education policy from primary to post primary schools in the state nor was he recognised for establishing two new universities in the conflu­ence state in addition to the state university in Ayingba where he built and equipped a teaching hospital.

Prior to Bello’s administration, the state of education in Kogi lacked clear direction. For instance, a comprehensive survey conducted in 2017 by the ACTIONAID/PIBCID revealed crit­ical insights into the education sector’s perfor­mance and challenges in the state.

These findings highlighted deficiencies in performance and instructional delivery that hin­dered the achievement of critical goals: improv­ing literacy rates, advancing Early Child Care Development Education (ECCDE), enhancing the quality of education from basic to tertiary lev­els, promoting girl-child education, and elevating Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills and STEM education.

In response to these challenges, Bello directed the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technol­ogy to organise the 2018 State Education Summit, known as the ‘Education Roadmap.’ The summit gathered stakeholders to devise strategies for the state’s educational development.

Subsequently, the State Education Law of 2020 was enacted to provide guidance and regulation for the operation of the education sector. The Min­istry of Education, Science, and Technology, went a step further by developing the State Education Strategic Plan (SESP) 2021-2030 and the State Edu­cation Operational Plan (SESOP) 2021-2027, which align with the Ministerial Strategic Plan (MSP) to address gaps in the education sector.

Under the leadership of Bello, the administra­tion transformed the education landscape from one marked by neglect and decay to one filled with hope, improved access, equity, infrastruc­ture development, and enhanced service delivery.

One of the administration’s groundbreaking achievements in the education sector was the al­location of 30 percent of the budget to education in each fiscal year since 2021. This allocation ex­ceeded the UNESCO-recommended benchmark of 26 percent, underscoring Bello’s unparalleled commitment to education in the state.

To ensure effective utilisation of the invest­ment, the state government under Bello conduct­ed training sessions for over 2,000 school man­agers, focusing on curriculum delivery, quality assurance, and enhanced efficiency in partner­ship with National Teachers Institute (NTI), Na­tional Population Commission (NPC), Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC), and the Federal Ministry of Education (FME). Additional training sessions on conduct­ing the Annual School Census have been provid­ed to over 1,500 individuals by the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology.

To enhance the workforce in the education sector, the government under Bello recruited an additional 3,979 teachers in February 2023 from a pool of 22,342 applicants.

Before 2015, Kogi State’s education landscape was a cause for worry. The performance of Kogi students in external examinations like the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), Nation­al Examinations Council (NECO), and Joint Ad­missions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) was disheartening.

However, Bello’s administration ushered in a transformative era. Substantial investments in educational infrastructure and the welfare of teachers and management staff have elevated the standard of Kogi students. This is a testa­ment to the power of commitment and strategic planning.

Statistics from the Federal Ministry of Edu­cation showed that the number of out-of-school children in Kogi State stood at 554,943 between 2014 and 2015. Through concerted efforts, the Bel­lo administration reduced that figure to 86,803, ranking Kogi as the 9th state with the lowest number of out-of-school children in Nigeria as of 2019.

With the renewed commitment of the govern­ment under the leadership of Bello, it is expected that every school-age child will be in the class­room from 2024.

Achieving these involved investments in pri­mary education, renovation of 833 classroom blocks, construction of 1,800 classrooms across the state, and establishment of GYB Model Sci­ence Schools in the state. It also involved training and retraining of teachers across all schools in the state.

Bello took a visionary and audacious step on September 21, 2023, by declaring free education from primary to secondary levels in all public schools in Kogi State.

Furthermore, that the government commit­ted to paying fees for WAEC, NECO, and JAMB examinations, is a testament to the leadership understanding of the importance of investing in the future.

Bello’s magic wand was also evident in put­ting an end to the incessant ASUU strike in the state-owned institutions in 2017 through strategic negotiation with stakeholders. The agreement therefrom stabilised and indeed normalised ac­tivities in the institutions and ensured prompt and regular payment of staff salaries. The de­velopment encouraged Bello to establish the Confluence University of Science and Technol­ogy, Osaran, after obtaining approval from the National Universities Commission (NUC) in 2020. The specialised institution took off in 2021 with 245 students.

On February 12, 2022, the Kogi State govern­ment disbursed N6 billion to contractors han­dling projects in the university while construc­tion of the college of medicine, Prince Abubakar Audu University, Anyigba for full medical accred­itation was also getting final requirement.

Another deft move in reshaping education in Kogi State was the establishment of the Kogi State University, Kabba in 2023, making his ad­ministration the first to establish and nurture two state-owned universities under four years.

Kogi State Polytechnic, Lokoja; College of Education, Ankpa; and College of Education (Technical), Mopa, are not left out too.