We’ll Continue To Develop Oyo Using Science, Logic, Data -Makinde
The governor of Oyo State, ‘Seyi Makinde, said, on Monday, that his administration will continue to use data, science and logic to arrive at the best decisions that will positively affect the people of the state.
The governor stated this while commissioning a model school building at the St. Paul’s Anglican Basic School, Okutapemo, Iseyin, to commemorate his second anniversary in office.
Makinde, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, said his administration has paid the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) counterpart funds of 1.51billion Naira for 2019 and 2020.
The governor equally commissioned the Oyo State Agribusiness Development Agency (OYSADA) headquarters and also launched the Youths Entrepreneurship in Agribusiness Project (YEAP) training for youths at the OYSADA Complex, Saki.
Speaking at the Iseyin venue of the model school building, Makinde maintained that the building is one of 26 such projects completed in the last one year across all zones of the state.
He explained that his administration completed over 300 projects in the education sector in its first year in office and has added over 300 projects in the second year.
The governor added that the government has also equipped hundreds of schools with furniture, textbooks and notebooks.
According to Makinde, upon assuming office, the government found out that the number of out-of-school children in the state was the highest in the South-West, while lack of education infrastructure was also rampant.
The governor said, through scientific thinking, data and logic, the government has been able to reduce that infrastructure deficit in the education sector by building and renovating more schools and providing furniture materials and equipment.
He added that the state government has also plugged the hole in school enrolment, with the return of 54,000 out-of-school children to the classrooms.
Makinde said: “When we looked at the data for education after we got into office two years ago, two things stood out. We had a huge number of out-of-school children. We had the highest number of out of school children in South-Western Nigeria.
“Even those who were in school lacked proper facilities and a conducive learning environment. So, we had to come up with solutions that would address these challenges.
“One of the things we noticed immediately was that the number of out-of-school children was a symptom of a bigger problem: The problem of poor funding.
“So, one of the first things we did was to reverse the trend of poor budgetary allocation to education. We revised the budget we met and increased allocation to education from about 3 per cent to 20 per cent.
“And when we made our own first budget, we allocated over 20 per cent to education, which surpassed the UNESCO-recommended 15-20 per cent.
“For the past two years, this has remained the standard. Education gets over 20 per cent of our budgetary allocations.
“A related problem was that basic education was suffering from poor infrastructure. The reason being that the funds for basic education is tied to a counterpart funding programme designed by the Federal Government.
“Any state that does not pay UBEC counterpart funds will not get UBEC matching grant and their development will suffer. We, therefore, paid counterpart funds of 1.51 billion Naira for 2019 and 2020 to enable us to get the matching grants.
“So, when you hear that we completed over 300 projects in education during our first year in office and this second year we have added another over 300 projects, you will understand we are not just throwing around figures. These are verifiable projects.”
Makinde maintained that the administration has been investing heavily on education because of the awareness that one of the sure ways of lifting families out of poverty is giving the children access to education.
