The Catholic Bishop of Idah diocese, His Lordship Bishop Anthony Ademu Adaji, has expressed concern over the decay and deterioration of public primary and secondary schools in the rural areas across Kogi State.
The clergy who called on the state governor Ahmed Usman Ododo to wake up to his responsibility in addressing the challenges faced by public schools in Kogi East, decried a situation where secondary school students were receiving lessons and writing examinations on the floor despite the huge sum of money the state government claimed to have committed to education sector in the last nine years.
Bishop Adaji stated this during a mass held at Saint Boniface Cathedral, part of the Catholic Diocese of Idah, to commemorate the institution of the Catholic priesthood.
The Bishop, who was visibly unhappy with the situation, lamented that less than 10 per cent of public schools are functioning in Kogi State, saying the worst affected area is Kogi East.
He stressed that most schools in Kogi East have deteriorated beyond imagination, asking whether “there is still government in Kogi State.”
“On a very serious note, you can not get 5 per cent functional public schools in Kogi East, yet billions of naira are budgeted for education year in and year out. In the last eight or nine years, education in rural communities in Kogi East has been a total shambles.
“Kogi state government should stop using the public schools in the state capital to judge the condition of schools in the local government areas.
“Our concern is that the larger population of the people in Kogi state dwells in rural areas, and regrettably, such places have precarious educational systems, especially secondary and primary schools , at the detriment of the children whom we claim are leaders of tomorrow.
“If you visit some government schools, both secondary and primary schools in Kogi East, if you are a lover of education and you know what education can do to humanity, you will weep. Therefore Governor Ododo should do the needful before it is too late.
“I am appealing to Governor Ododo that as he has started the goodwill of paying regular salaries to both state and local government workers, he should also include education and infrastructure as part of the mandate of his responsibility, as both are necessary for the development of Kogi state,” he said.
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