Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde has reiterated that his administration will continue to prioritise education, saying it remains one of the pillars of his administration.
The governor stated this at the maiden Education Day Celebration tagged: “A Day With His Excellency” held at Emeritus Professor Theophilus Ogunlesi Hall, UCH, Ibadan.
Represented by his deputy, Abdul-Raheem Adebayo Lawal, the governor said the educational awareness event 2023 had shown the whole world, particularly Nigeria, that the state is aserious about the sector.
He maintained that education is in the forefront of the present administration activities and is one of the main tenets of the administration’s Four-Point Agenda in Omitutun 1.0, while emphasising that the current administration has allocated about 20 percent of its budget to education and that it is ranked as inter premier.
According to him, “We know as a matter of fact that giving education to our children is key to our children so as not to be ravaged by poverty.
“The folks who were not educated are nowhere to be found today in Nigeria and as such, our administration both under Omitutun 1.0 and Omituntun 2.0 have taken education so seriously that every other policy of the government ranks behind education.”
While noting that the ministry of education is building on solid foundation that has been established since 1955, Makinde assured that his administration will not relent to really continue to build on the solid foundation as well as making a conducive environment within and around educational institutions in such a way that pupils and teachers have an enabling environment to perform the function they are engaged.
He said, “As a matter of policy, the Oyo State government has embarked on sanitizing the environment of our schools by making sure that shops are not allowed around the school fences.