Jethro Yerga, Jalingo
The Taraba State Governor, Dr Agbu Kefas, has vowed to clamp down on persons working directly or indirectly to sabotage his efforts toward attaining a total free education system in Taraba State
The governor made this vow during a media parley in Jalingo organised to commemorate his one year in office
He stated that his administration has considered education as a priority, hence the declaration of free education for Primary and Secondary School students and the reduction by half, school fees of higher institutions owned by the state
Governor Kefas cautioned saboteurs of the system who have been frustrating students by collecting their money for various reasons to stop forthwith, adding that he would soon launch an investigation in to the system to fish out the stubborn flies who have continued to frustrate his efforts
He disclosed that already, his government had procured about one hundred thousand uniforms, sandals and school bags which would soon be shared among students and pupils across the state
The governor identified a lack of structures in public schools across the state as the major reason limiting full take-off of the free education policy of the state. He, however, disclosed that his administration had already taken aggressive steps towards erecting new structures across the schools to accommodate the students and make learning more effective in the schools.
“We have already started taking data of engineers and Architects who would soon commence work. We shall deploy them to all the various Local Government Areas where these schools are situated and we hope that they would do the job effectively. When we are done with the structures, we will then task all the traditional rulers to ensure that each and every child is admitted in school and I want to assure you that by the grace of God, we shall soon be the best model in Nigeria,” the governor added
Governor Kefas urged lecturers of Taraba State University who have being threatening to embark on strike following their unpaid six months outstanding arrears to bury their hatchets as he was working assiduously to settle the matter.
“We are working assiduously to pay them their arrears. I don’t think it should be a reason for them to go on strike. We discovered that there are ghost workers among them and we are making aggressive efforts to fish out the ghost workers. When we finish fetching them out, then we can go ahead and pay the legitimate staff their money. We cannot afford to keep wasting the state money on ghost workers,” he added.
While harping on his other achievements within the one year in office, the governor pointed out that apart from the declaration of free education, his administration has made significant marks in the area of agriculture by providing tractors to farmers to encourage mechanise farming.
He also noted that the administration has invested so much in other sectors such as transportation, security, health, energy and power as well as culture and tourism in order to improve the well being of the people of Taraba State.
Free education: Gov Agbu vows to clamp down on saboteurs
