By Abu Micheal
The Kogi State Commissioner for Education Science and Technology, Hon Wemi Jones says the recent rating of the State as most educationally advanced state in the North-Central and one of the topmost in the North Underscores the Commitment of Gov. Yahaya Bello to the Education Sector.
Speaking with the Thenigerian Post, the Commissioner disclosed that the determination to make the State educationally advanced made the Governor to make the sector to come first in the thematic areas of the present administration.
While noting that the successes achieved is a work in progress and would be sustained going forward by the determination of Gov. Yahaya Bello to the Education Sector, thanked the Governor for giving the Sector all the needed Support and for to the Ministry all that is required to carry out its function.
Recalled that the commitment of the Governor Yahaya Bello-led administration in Kogi State to shore up the state’s educational rating from an abysmal 33.5 per cent and 23rd position in 2012, paid off, as the state has now been listed as the most educationally advanced state in the North-Central and one of the topmost in the North.
It would also be recalled that in its determination to revamp education and reclaim the state’s lost glory in the field of education, the Governor Bello administration voted over N21.3 billion to fund education this year.
The amount is said to be the highest in recent times which according to the Commissioner of Education, Hon. Wemi Jones, points to the commitment of the administration to laying a solid foundation for the state.
In furtherance of this commitment, the administration, according to Hon. Jones, is the Governor’s pursuing with vigour, the realisation of Confluence University of Science and Technology, Osara, expected to begin academic activities shortly.
The state’s rating was made known when it played host to the National Librarian, Professor Lanre Aina, who revealed that the state is now the most educationally advanced in the North-Central Geographical Zone of the country, the Commissioner said that the feat was made possible by the commitment of the Governor Bello administration, which has gone beyond paying lip-service to the all-important sector.
The state’s educational rating in the North and the country as a whole, Hon. Jones revealed has tremendously improved, assuring that no stone would be left unturned to continue to improve.
Professor Aina had hinted that from available statistics, the state was making remarkable progress on the educational ladder and praised the commitment of the Governor in that direction. He revealed that Kogi State University, Anyigba has maintained its ranking as one of the top 200 universities in Africa and expressed confidence that given the huge investment being made in establishing CUSTECH, it would be a cynosure of all eyes.
Kogi has remained on the 13th position on the national socio-economic indicator of the country and only last year, it was listed as the number one investment hub in the country by the Nigerian Investment Promotion Council, NIPC.
While Imo State has remained on the number one educationally advanced state in the country, Yobe State with 7.23 per cent literacy level, is at the bottom, followed by Zamfara with 19.16 per cent, Kebbi with 20:51 per cent and Niger with 22.28 per cent.
In the North, Taraba State still maintains its leading position with over 70 per cent rating and trailing behind are; Kaduna, Kano, Kogi and Kwara.
It will be recalled that Kabba Province which constitutes the present Kogi State, largely provided the administrative and technical skill that sustained the defunct Northern Region.
