Governor Abubakar Sani Bello of Niger State says his administration will remain committed in utilizing the available resources to do the needful in the area of Education in the State.
Governor Sani Bello stated this when he received an award as the most improved State in Education in 2020 by the BusinessDay in Abuja.
The Governor who noted that apart from education, there are other sectors that need attention, explained that despite the limited resources, Education should be given priority and should be continuous from one administration to the other as governance is a continuous process.
He said fixing education sector is a long time project, but if adequate attention was given to Education in the State since the return of Democratic Government in Nigeria, by now the story would have been a better one.
The Governor who decried the level of dilapidation of school structures when he took over in 2015 said his administration has been able to rebuild a reasonable number out of the 60 boarding schools in the State aside the whole school approach initiative that was used to reconstruct and renovate some of the schools.
He commended the media organization for finding him worthy of the award and also appreciated their efforts in carrying out an independent investigation into what the State government has done in the education sector adding that they should sustain the tempo as doing so will encourage leaders to do more.
The Governor assured them that the award is a morale booster for him not to relent in doing his best to the people of the State as there are high expectations from the people.
Speaking on behalf of the Organization, the General Manager, Northern Operations, Business Day, Bashir Ibrahim Hassan explained that the Organization carryout its research annually and gets the statistics for all States of the Federation on different area of human development.
Ibrahim Hassan said for last year, based on their statistics, Niger State came out as the most improved State in Education.
The General Manager enumerated some of the achievements recorded in education by the Abubakar Sani Bello led administration to include construction and renovation of over 2,500 classrooms, trained over 3,000 teachers in Partnership with Cambridge University as well as establishment of Professional teachers training institute in mutum Daya Shiroro local Government Area of the state.
Ibrahim further said the Governor equally increased the retirement age of teachers from 60-65 recently and commended the Governor for his resilience, determination and commitment to bringing the needed growth and development in the State.
John Osadolor, the Editorial Director of the Business Day presented the award on behalf of the organization.
The 2020 BusinessDay Award ceremony took place on the 25th of february 2021,at a time when Niger state government was battling to rescue her abducted Kagara science College boys.
Mary Noel-Berje
Chief Press Secretary to
the Governor of Niger State.