Why I’m passionate about education, security – Governor Agbu
Sylvanus Viashima, Jalingo
Following strategic moves to tackle insecurity and reposition the education system in the State, the Taraba State Governor Dr Kefas Agbu on Wednesday disclosed that the Two sectors are key to the overall sustainable development plan of his administration.
Agbu who disclosed this through his Special Adviser on media and Digital Communications Mr Emmanuel Bello said that, he was greatly dismayed at the sorry condition of education system in the state when he took over government and decided to immediately declare a state of emergency on the sector to expedite actions to salvage the sector.
He noted further that “any development that does not also involve human capacity development is not sustainable. It is very important to first of all developed the mind and mental faculty of the people so that they can in turn contribute meaningfully to the overall development of the state.
“That is why it is very important for this administration that the quality education should be made available and affordable for every indigene of the state. Consequently, we have declared and implemented free and compulsory Primary and Secondary education throughout the state.
“We are equally working on upgrading the physical infrastructure in schools, employment of more teachers and training of those already on ground. We are also working on digitalizing the entire school system so that monitoring becomes relatively easier and enrollment is easily tracked. These are key innovations that would turnaround the sector.
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“On the side of security, you know that our plans of turning the state to an investment and tourists hub can not materialise if the level of insecurity is not checked urgently. That is why we are paying close attention to security. We have set up a joint task force that is already tackling the issues of kidnapping and armed robbery in Jalingo and environs as well as other flashpoints across the State.
“We are having serious conversation with all the critical stakeholders including traditional rulers, religious leaders, security agencies and community leaders. The essence is to ensure that the people take charge of their security and make it a top priority. We want to break the distrust between the people a d security agencies. We need a strong collaboration between the people and security agencies and that campaign is ongoing.
“Only last week, we initiated a move to have more soldiers deployed to the State. Our meeting with the Chief of Army Staff was a huge success and we look forward to fruitful results soon. We have a duty to turn things around for good in Taraba and we are relentless until we achieve this. Failure is not an option”.
Our Correspondent recall that the state government has slashed the tuition fees of the state owned University by half after declaring free primary and secondary education in the state.
