Education: Kogi Governor pledges 30% budgetary allocation

The Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello has promised a 30 per cent allocation to the education sector in the 2022 budget.

This shows a 10 per cent increase from the current 20 per cent allocated in 2021.

The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr Onogwu Muhammed, made this known in a statement issued on Sunday in Lokoja, the state’s capital.

According to Muhammed, the Governor made the pledge at the grand finale of the Pharmacist Abdulkareem Asuku Youth Empowerment Foundation (PAAYEF) inter-school quiz and debate competition held at the Government House.

He assured residents that teachers’ welfare would continue to be of priority to his administration.

“My government’s concentration will not only be on infrastructural growth in the sector, but a prioritised focus on the welfare of teachers to give leverage to public schools over their privately-owned counterparts.

“We will ensure that it is illegal for any student in the state to be out of school.

“We will also ensure that Kogi emerges first at the next West African Examination Council performance ratings through deliberate investment in the sector.’’

Bello said also that the state was making efforts to ensure a safe and secure Kogi as no child would be abducted by any criminal under his watch adding that it was only when the state was safe and secure that students could go to school.

He cited the Korea Institute at the state’s polytechnic and the newly-established Confluence University of Science and Technology, Osara, as some of the achievements already made in the sector.

The Governor, therefore, called on Nigerians to invest in human capital development, particularly in endeavours that would add value and impact the younger generations.

NAN/PIAK