Transparency and accountability remain critical to the development of any sector of the nation’s economy. This forms the premise of several actions taken by the President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration to ensure that Nigerians get the value for money invested in different critical sectors of the transformation agenda. Under the present administration, there is no room for wastage of public resources.
For the nation’s education sub-sector, transparency and accountability are the corner-stone of project execution, award of contracts and supervision across the board. The principal objective driving this sector has been the desire to ensure quality human capital development as enshrined in the President’s transformation agenda.
The central belief being that if wastages are controlled within and outside the implementation framework of the nation’s education sector, the country stands to benefit more in terms of quality projects that would stand the test of time and attract millions of Nigerian children, youths and uneducated adults to basic education institutions across the country.
Observant Nigerians appreciated the seriousness that the immediate past Minister of State for Barrister Ezenwo Nyesom Wike brought to the table as regards making transparency and accountability part of the implementation process of the all-important basic education sector of the nation. Whilst he held the reins of administration, officials of the ministry and agencies under his supervision were compelled to bid farewell to under-the-table negotiations, meetings and decisions on the implementation and evaluation of projects.
Barr. Wike believes that the decay that attended the nation’s education sector before President Goodluck Jonathan took over leadership has been such that all Nigerians must be carried along on the steps being taken by government to address these fundamental challenges. To him, closed door meetings have no place in the administration of the nation’s basic education recovery process.
This position has paid off. Officials who approached their functions lackadaisically faced stiff sanctions as they were exposed in the public glare of journalists and members of the civil society. The outcome of the bold style of leadership is that several officials saddled with the responsibility of implementing projects and programmes have become alive to their roles in the transformation and the fact that sanctions await them if they neglect these roles.
One State that received unprecedented attention from the former Minister of State for Education is Rivers. The Minister between July 14, 2014 and October 20, 2014 made issues concerning this State, a top priority, delivering on all fronts to improve the standard of education and increase access to quality education.
Rivers State received the full attention under the watch of the minister. As they say, charity begins at home. The former Minister in very special ways re-defined the benefits that the people of Rivers State derive from the Federal Government as regards the education sector. This was not the case in years past.
For the over three decades that the University of Port Harcourt existed, it had no Faculty of Law. As a graduate of Political Science and Administrative Studies of the prestigious UniPort, who later studied law at the Rivers State University of Science and Technology, Barr. Wike took it as a challenge to ensure that the teeming youths yearning for the Faculty of Law get it whilst he held sway at the Federal Ministry of Education. A pragmatic and grassroots administrator and politician who strives only for the people, Barr. Wike delivered on this key project and today, UniPort has joined the league of Universities with functional law faculties.
Also in UniPort, Barr. Wike facilitated the construction of a College of Biological Science Building. This project was well received by indigenes of Rivers State and other Nigerians residing in the state. He worked closely with the University through the Step B project supported by the World Bank to develop functional science laboratories across the university. He further worked out the inclusion of UniPort in the High Impact TETfund project development scheme. This special funding outlet has helped the university to execute major developmental projects that have improved her capacity. The University received N3billion for these projects.
He has also facilitated the construction of a students’ hostel for he Faculty of Law in Uniport.
The former Minister of State for Education also worked with the National Universities Commission, NUC, to ensure that the enabling environment was created for UniPort to emerge as an African Centre of Excellence. This centre involved in high class scientific research has over N1billion grant from the World Bank.
The Federal College of Education, Technical, Omoku in Rivers State is yet another success story in terms of interventions facilitated by the Minister of State for Education. Like UniPort, this institution has benefitted massively from TETfund interventions since the former Minister of State for Education joined the Jonathan administration in 2011. The level of interventions naturally increased whilst he served as Supervising Minister of Education. Key projects that have been executed include laboratories, classrooms and general environment development programme. The Minister was honoured by the Staff and Students of the School when he embarked on a working visit in the school.
In the basic education sub-sector, Barr. Wike has impacted very critical areas in Rivers State. The basic education projects include the Special Girl-Child Model College, Aluu, UBEC Community Secondary, Rumuipirikom, library at Federal Government College, Port Harcourt, library project at Federal Government Girls College, Abuluoma and Almajiri School at Omerule. These are projects that have been fully delivered for the improvement of teaching and learning in these schools.
The Minister further attracted the Teacher Development Computer Training Centre at the UBEC Community Secondary School, Rumuiprikom. This facility is aiding in the training of teachers through distance learning.
Most importantly, Barr. Wike ensured that the Federal Government College, Port Harcourt, the Federal Government Girls College, Abuluoma and the Federal Science and Technical College, Ahoada benefitted from the phasal rehabilitation of Federal Government Colleges introduced by him. The programme saw the schools improving their laboratories, classrooms and hostels.
After a recent inspection visit to tertiary and basic education schools in Rivers State to ascertain the quality of work done, Barr. Wike declared that the investments of the Federal Government in the education sector are already yielding positive results across the state. The minister was visibly impressed at the percentage completion of projects visited and standard of engineering works at the sites.
For the Federal Science and Technical College, Ahoada, former Minister of State for Education facilitated the construction of two workshops and the delivery of special work tools for the workshops. This has re-vitalised the technical abilities of the school.
Aside physical infrastructural development in Rivers State, the former Minister of State for Education facilitated the training of thousands of Rivers State basic education teachers and tertiary institutions lecturers. The state has fully benefitted from the free distribution of textbooks and library resource materials under the Supervision of the Minister.
Stakeholders are supportive of the Minister’s open approach which they say has impacted positively on project execution across the country.
The outstanding performance of the former Minister of State for Education in Rivers State and the entire nation has been the platform upon which the people of Rivers State placed a demand on him, asking him to lead them to the next level. A level where development without unnecessary bickering with the Federal Government and other Rivers leaders will have a pride of place.
This is the new Rivers vision, where a focused administration will dutifully utilize the resources of the state for the benefit of the people. The visioner in this case is Barrister Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, PDP’s leading Governorship aspirant in Rivers State.
Simeon Nwakaudu, is the Special Assistant (Media) to the PDP Governorship Aspirant, Rivers State.
