S’South Education Dev: Amaechi, Obi, Ezekwesili, Set Agenda

Governors Chibuike Amaechi of Rivers, Peter Obi of Anambra, Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti States and Former World Bank Vice President for Africa, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili have underscored need for a unified education policy that will drive development in the South-South states under the auspices of the BRACED (Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa-Ibom, Cross River, Edo and Delta) Commission.

They made their position public while speaking at the maiden edition of BRACED education summit tagged, “Empowering All Through Education,” held yesterday in Port Harcourt.

Governor Amaechi said four ingredients were key for educational transformation in the region. These he stated include infrastructure, qualified teachers, re-training of teachers and good atmosphere for study.

Recalling the poor state of education prior to the inception of his administration in 2007, the Rivers State Governor submitted that the government embarked on reforms, saying, “if we don’t get education right, our country will be doomed…for us in Rivers State, that is what we are doing”.

Following reforms and massive infrastructure transformation, Amaechi disclosed that currently there was huge pressure on public schools as private schools were losing pupils daily due to the new model schools.

In order to meet the challenge, he hinted of plans to provide free laptops to pupils in the new model schools, adding, “you can’t have a good educational policy without a technical and vocational education,” stating that by January next year, a new vocational centre to be manned by Germans would take off in the state.

After the BRACED summit, he said the state would organise its own education forum, as a way of tapping and synergising policies and programmes amongst the states.

In his remarks, Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State, opined that one way to secure the future of the children, “the future of these kids are very important… because they can contribute to make a better place.”

According to the Anambra State Governor, the most important asset for competition and development are education, as he praised the initiative of BRACED Commission.

Ekiti State Governor, Dr Fayemi called for curriculum development that would reflect the federal principle, warning that “if the current educational decay continues then the country is in danger.

Fayemi further suggested, “If we want to look at what has gone awry in the federation, education is one area…It should be an item that should be driven at the local level while supervision can come from the federal level.”

The Ekiti State Governor believed that the BRACED Commission could provided the needed platform for a uniform education policy that would drive development in the Niger Delta region.

In her key note address titled, “From Dependence on Oil to Knowledge Based Economy in the BRACED States”, Former World Bank Vice President for Africa, Dr. Ezekwesili called on the six states that make up the commission to poll their resources together for a viable education strategy.

She argued that the huge natural and economic resources of the region provides a veritable instrument in which the human potentials could be harnessed as well as economic diversification achieved.

“Economic growth increases as citizens are offered opportunities to education,” Ezekwesili explained.