The World Bank, the United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), among others, have hailed governor Godwin Obaseki for his government’s impactful and life-changing reforms and programmes that have continued to translate to improved livelihoods in Edo State.
The director, Global Education, World Bank, Jamie Saadevadra; Chief Education officer (Nigeria) UNICEF, Saadhna Panday and the chief of Mission, IOM, Laurent De Boeck, while speaking in Benin City, during a dinner organised by the state government, hailed Obaseki’s impressive and pragmatic approach to governance and for implementing nuanced reforms and programmes to deliver on the government’s development objectives and achieve progress across all sectors of the state’s economy.
Others, who also validated the governor’s development programmes are; the representative of the Italian Government and Italian Ambassador to Nigeria, Stefano De Leo; Senior Programme officer at Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Clio Dintihac, and the regional vice president (Africa), Udacity, Emman Nour Ahmed Raslan, among others.
The World Bank representative, who described Edo as an accelerator state, said Edo, under the leadership of governor Obaseki, is among the only ten sub-nationals in the world with the political will to transform education and tackle learning poverty.
Jamie noted that, “across the world, we’re faced with a huge challenge; we face what I describe as a silent crisis. One that we don’t see any one dying each day but we see so many children across the world, even if they go to school, are not learning or getting the skills they require to succeed in life. That’s a challenge we have everywhere, including in Nigeria and Edo.
“In order to confront the challenge, what we need is not just good technical decisions and designs, but political commitment and will and that is the part that’s most difficult to see in many countries. We see the problems and the technical solutions but don’t see the political will to take the hard decisions that are needed in order to reform education. That’s one of the reasons why we call Edo State, under the leadership of Governor Godwin Obaseki, an accelerator state, together with other ten countries in the world.”
While commending the governor for the successes recorded in the education and other sectors of the state, the UNICEF representative assured that the global education body “will continue to partner and ensure the technical support to provide all that’s needed to take the EdoBEST programme to the next level.”
On his part, the Italian Ambassador to Nigeria hailed the state government for the launch of the second phase of the Managing Migration through Development Project, assuring that, the government will partner the state on job creation, as well as investment and training opportunities, among others.
In his response, Obaseki thanked the partners for their collaboration and support, reassuring that his administration will sustain efforts to ensure sustainable growth and development in the state.
He further noted, “We have agreed to step up the relationship between Edo and Europe, particularly provinces in Italy where a large number of Edo indigenes reside. We are taking steps to make sure that by spring next year, we undertake a major roadshow to expose the opportunities we have in various areas for our young people here and how the business men can also come here to take advantage of the opportunities we have.”
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