The Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Prof. Stephen Ocheni, has proposed a 10-year Blueprint to eliminate illiteracy from Igalaland.
Ocheni stated this at a Reception and Public Lecture organised by the Igala Professors Forum in honour of the minister and Prof. Sam Egwu, the Independent National Electoral Commission Resident Electoral Commissioner to Niger State.
The Lecture was titled: “Role of Public Officers in Strategising for Competitive Development.”
Ocheni said: “We must develop short, medium term template to ensure that no lgala child in the 21st Century is denied access to education.
“Such a denial can lead to a number of undesirable consequences.
“The most pernicious of which are value erosion and character failure among the youths who are the leaders of tomorrow.
“The signs of such value erosion and character failure include rise in the incidence of corruption, moral decadence, juvenile delinquency, examination malpractices, cultism and drug abuse.
“This is enough warning that indeed for our nation, the enemy is already at the city gate.
“The advancement of this enemy must be checked now.
“We may focus primarily on universal basic education, which is free, but we must also put strategies in place to improve access of our youth to secondary, vocational and tertiary education.”
The minister said he believed that the 10-year Educational Blueprint to eliminate illiteracy from Igalaland was feasible and certainly not beyond the competencies available to the Forum.
He added that once we can move from concept to policy, it then becomes a matter of mobilising our people for proper execution.
Ocheni said: “As education promotes equality and lifts people out of poverty.
“It teaches children how to become good citizens.
“Education is not just for a privileged few, it is for everyone, it is a fundamental human right.”
Ocheni commended all for the support, prayers and sacrifices for the honour bestowed on him.
Also Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State, who was represented by the Deputy Governor of the state, Simon Achuba, said knowledge was power that could bring development to the state.
Bello decried the decay in the educational system, saying it was no fault of the professors but rather some government policies, student’s unwillingness to learn and infrastructural decay, among others.
He said that the learning situation in Kogi State and in particular in Kogi East was worrisome.
He said: “Currently from the council meeting, from the screening of certificates result that we did for the civil servants within Kogi, we had over 1,400 workers with fake certificates.
“This is alarming.
“This is to say a lot people are in possession of fake certificates, which are through forgery, deceit, lying, among others.
“That is why a lot of people in positions cannot bring out anything worth their position.
“These issues are very worrisome and we need to redirect our educational system for maximum result.
“So, I want to urge all the Igala professors to work out a way that our people can be sensitised and encouraged again to love and to pursue education rightly.”
Bello also urged them to embrace good character as whatever position they hold in the public service represents the Igala nation.
He also commended the organisers, saying the Forum demonstrates unity and purpose, that when the people are united they would do great exploits for the state.
Also, Prof. Emmy Idegu, the Guest Lecturer, urged public servants to see themselves as servants to the public and not to assert themselves as their lord and master.
“This is imperative as this is the only way the public servant would be effective and efficient to be a strategist for the development in the ferociously environment,” Idegu said
Idegu, however, called on the celebrants to properly position and prepare for challenges of making the desired impact in the competitive development the contemporary Nigeria comprehensively needs.
He added that the position was imperative in correcting the mistakes of yesterday in firmly and decisively repositioning our today for a longer lasting positive effect on our tomorrow.