#IWillVoteUdom2019: Gov Udom’s unparalleled passion for education

Edward Everett, an American professor and Educationist must have intended to send a message of inspiration to leaders of States like Akwa Ibom when he said that “Education is a better safeguard of liberty than a standing army.”

Akwa Ibom, like many other states, has continually been on a move to gain self-discovery, economic freedom and social liberty. Not liberty from the captivity of slavery, nor captivity as a conquered territory in a war-torn era; but the captivity of defeatist syndrome, inferiority complex and economic backwardness borne out of poor or lack of education.

Shortly after he came on board as the chief executive of my State, Udom Emmanuel took audacious steps towards social and attitudinal re-orientation through the Dakkada initiative. The first impact was felt in the education sector even before the economy. The sight of children in Nursery and Primary education school level reciting the Dakkada creed only leaves one to wonder what would have been the level of mental capacity and economic attainment of our people if such inspirational verses were our watchword in time past.

When considering the economic downturn that hit the country shortly after he assumed governance, citizens of the State expected very little from the governor as far as development in education sector was concerned. Being a state with a very vibrant rumour industry, rumours even began to flow that the free education policy the governor inherited was suspended.

But, as the focused leader that he is, the governor remained resolute in his mission not only to sustain the antecedents of his predecessor in the education sector, but to explore fresh frontiers that will take this vital sector to the next level.

Free and compulsory education has been sustained in the state while renewed impetus has been given to teachers and other stakeholders in that sector through timely payment of their salaries in addition to timely supply of teaching aides and furniture, even at a time their counterparts in most of the States across the country are taking either half salary or are being paid once per quarter.

The governor further pays millions of naira as subvention to schools and the local education authorities every quarter of the year, in an attempt to offset charges accruing in the process of educating Akwa Ibom children. This is done in an attempt to eliminate extortion of the students the government seeks to educate totally free of all charges. Also, thousands of Akwa Ibom children who hitherto would pass through primary and secondary education processes only to drop out of the Secondary School Certificate Examinations like WAEC/NABTEB have been saved from being uncertified school leavers as the present government has so far painstakingly coughed out billions of naira for the settlement of examination fees for students in the State.

Some time last year, The improvement for learning and teaching condition for pupils, students and their teachers also received a boost via recruitment of about three thousand teachers, building of uncountable school blocks, fences and staff quarters across secondary and primary schools in the state.

It didn’t stop there, Gov. Udom Emmanuel pushed further to ensure the supply of computers to both government and private secondary schools in the State; a deliberate effort to ensure that the average Secondary school leaver has moderate computer skills and can compete in today’s world.

Armed with the understanding that education is nothing without the maximization of talents, the governor surprised his ardent critics and delved into the least expected and hitherto neglected aspect in the education sector; sports development. For the first time in very many decades, schools’ sport development has received government attention in terms of infrastructure; beyond the usual practice of government organizing inter school sports competitions on dilapidated facilities. Ultra modern Sports Development Centres of excellence have been constructed in secondary schools across the ten Federal constituencies in the state, with a football academy to complement. Some of these centres of excellence have been completed and have been long put to use.

All these were done in an attempt to discover and breed hundreds of future stars who will make the state proud in the sports arena and by extension become breadwinners in their families. When taking into cognizance the fact that such initiative has the possibility of giving a platform to sports-crazy teenagers who would have been tagged recalcitrant children for practicing their passion on the streets, one could only conclude that the governor is indeed a leader that sees deep into the future of the State.

Needless to re-emphasis that the current State government under the leadership of his excellency, Governor Udom Emmanuel in multifaceted approach to educational development and mass literacy for Akwa Ibom children at no cost to the citizens, is a rarity that is plausible, considering that all these were done at a time when income flow was a great challenge to the conduct of regular government administrative affairs in the country. But looking at the mental liberation and mass capacity development such investments offers, the Governor indeed deserves a second term.

For this reasons, #IWillVoteUdom2019
How about you?

Paul Sylvester writes in from Uyo

Kindly text #iWillVoteUdom2019 to 08080800006 to join this moving train