…Minister bemoans crisis in education sector
By Seun Adams
The National Parent Teacher Association of Nigeria, (NAPTAN), on Thursday conferred it’s Life Time Achievement Award (LTAA) to the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola.
The award according to NAPTAN, remains a footprints and legacies of what he left behind in the educational development of Osun State when he held sway as Governor in the state.
On the state of education coupled with the associated crisis that has crippled University education, the Minister expressed sadness and pains urging the various actors involved to find a lasting legacy to the problem.
The Deputy National Chairman of the Association, Chief Adeolu Ogunbanjo who represented the National Chairman, Mr Haruna Danjuma, presented the award to him in his office in Abuja.
Speaking, Aregbesola said he did his best in uplifting the standard of education in Osun as his regime built 3,685 new classrooms and 11 world class new schools.
According to him, his administration focused more on the value and quality of education given to students and pupils in Osun, and the results were available for all to see except that his critics who were mainly elite had emotional attachments and nostalgia about the names of their former schools.
He said: “Osun was ranked as one of the 10th largest economy in Nigeria, ranked as 2nd highest in schools enrolment/attendance, next to Lagos State with enrolment moving from 15 to 45, and later to over 65 percent by the time I left.
“But sadly today, the situation has changed. And it pained me that the vision and capacity that we demonstrated in delivering services to the people have been arrested. I am only putting the records straight and not to castigate anybody.
“In terms of security of lives and property, Osun was first in Nigeria peace index according to statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics (2018).Those who attempted to rob a bank in Osun paid the supreme price for their action as they were neutralised by security forces. We invested heavily on security and lifted over 700,000 people out of poverty ” Aregbesola asserted.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Dr Shuaib Belgore, in a remark, said Aregbesola has been building on his achievements in Osun since he assumed office as Minister, asserting that through his reforms, sanity has been restored to passports issuance in the country.
Belgore, a knowledged that the Minister has brought dynamic changes and reforms to the operations of Services under the purview of the Ministry, stating that his dedication to duty has recorded tremendous growth and successes for some of the Agencies under his supervision.
The Chairman of NAPTAN said Aregbesola was give the award based on his track record in Osun as a humanist and a performer, stressing that the award was designed to encourage not only the Minister, but other public servants like him.
