KEY POINTS
- Kogi, he said, should give priority to school rehabilitation and recruitment of civil servants.
- Dilapidated schools, shrinking workforce are key issues, activist says.
- State’s security progress praised, but Okai wants education, workforce reforms.
Political activist, Usman Okai is calling on the Kogi state Governor, Usman Ododo to act fast on the state’s faltering education system plus the dwindling civil service workforce.
“Kogi state schools are bad and require government intervention,” Okai, a former House of Representatives candidate, described the condition of primary and secondary schools in Kogi.
Urgent attention needed to education system
The neglect of educational infrastructure in Kogi is lamented by Okai who urged the government to emulate states like Edo and Enugu in reverting to the same local schools as ‘smart schools.’
He also illustrated some work that have prioritised the rehabilitation of rundown schools around Okura Primary School in Dekina, Oguma Primary School in Bassa, Ojuwo Olijo Primary School in Ofu.
Okai, while commending the governor for approving ₦600 million to cover the fees for over 18,700 students to sit the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), urged for more investment in schools facilities. He said equipping these schools will not only bring joy to students and parents, but also help lay the foundation for quality education in the state.
Civil service at high risk of large scale workforce
But Okai also criticised the state’s dwindling civil service workforce, which he blames on a screening exercise in the former Governor Yahaya Bello’s administration that caused the dismissal of over 70% of the workers without adequate replacements.
According to him, the new minimum wage was unsustainable, because the workers who would benefit had little to no representation in the system. “He said that Kogi state has one of the lowest employces in the civil service of any northern state, largely as a result of a failure of government to replace retired workers.”
Okai also called on the government to disclose the current workforce numbers and wage bill to deal with concerns around transparency, and immediately recruit to bring back the state’s workforce capacity.
Good security in place
Generally, Okai has criticised the progress but said the changes in gear of the state security were commendable.
But he advised the government to direct itself to taking care of workers’ welfare, as well as revamping the education sector which he contended was key to the long term development of Kogi.
The state’s Commissioner of Information, Kingsley Fanwo, failed to respond to efforts to get his reaction to this report.
