Taraba Governor declares emergency on education

On Friday, Taraba State Governor Kefas Agbu declared a state of emergency on primary and secondary education.

The governor said with the declaration, his administration would turn around the sector’s fortune in the next 100 days.

Mr Agbu gave the assurance while interacting with journalists at the state council chamber in Jalingo.

He said the state’s primary and secondary education condition is pathetic and unacceptable. He highlighted that extraordinary measures would be implemented within a defined time frame to achieve the desired result.

The governor said other measures to implement include focusing on infrastructure by building new schools where necessary and improving existing ones.

“Having seen the situation of our Primary and Secondary schools, I hereby declare a state of emergency on our Primary and Secondary schools,” he said.

“The standard, the environment and everything need to be changed. We have templates of what we want our schools to look like. We have templates that will help us transform our schools into centres of learning as they should be. We would also prioritise teachers’ welfare and training, retraining and more training of teachers in line with contemporary standards and realities,” he added.

On appointees

Mr Agbu also disclosed that most of his appointees will be young people with proven integrity and experience.

He said he already has the names of those he wants to work with as commissioners and other key roles, but would want to make consultations before making the names public.

“80% of my commissioners will be young people so that we can have a succession plan and results. That is why I have appointed well-experienced and matured persons as SSG and Chief of Staff so that they will be a guide to the young persons.

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“I don’t want to be seen as Mr know all; I already have the names of those I want to work with. I just want to carry people along, otherwise, I can roll out my commissioners today,” he said.

“Our development approach is people based and we will get back to them for what they want from us since we are here to serve them. We have our templates and blueprint in place and we will align it with the needs of the people in the course of our intensive interactions with them.

Speaking on the scores of abandoned projects across the state, he said, “Governance is a continuous process; we would look at all ongoing projects and those that have been commissioned without being completed will be re-evaluated. Anything that is good for the people of Taraba will not be abandoned.”

Mr Agbu said his administration will not carry out a witch hunt of the last government but will review and audit the previous administration and “ask questions where necessary.”