Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo, has criticized the previous administration led by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) under Godwin Obaseki for failing to distribute books donated by President Bola Tinubu for student use, citing the presence of the President’s image on the materials as the reason for the inaction.
In conjunction with this, the governor has initiated a comprehensive remodelling of public schools across the state and is overseeing the distribution of educational resources.
A statement released on Monday by Okpebholo’s Chief Press Secretary, Fred Itau, indicated that the first phase of the remodelling would focus on eight schools across the three senatorial districts of Edo State.
The governor made these comments while overseeing the distribution of notebooks, textbooks, and other educational materials in Benin City, the state capital.
He has mandated that the books be distributed throughout all 18 local government areas in the state.
Okpebholo condemned the withholding of the books as an act of malice.
Accompanied by the Executive Chairman of the Edo State Universal Education Board, Paddy Iyamu, former House of Representatives member Omoregie Ogbiede-Ihama, and other senior officials, the governor later toured the facilities at New Era College in Benin City, a special institution established for young athletes by the late Dr. Samuel Ogbemudia, former governor of Old Bendel State.
Okpehbolo said, “These books you see here were donated by the President of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu for use by Edo children, but the immediate past administration did not distribute them to our children because the President’s face is printed on the books.
“I want to thank the President for his kind gesture, and for me, the action of the former administration is an act of wickedness. This warehouse is filled with books donated by the President of Nigeria, but because of the wickedness, the then governor prevented the books from being distributed to the children. Today, we are here to distribute the books to our children.
“This is New Era College at the centre of the city. You are here. See for yourself the rot in the system. We just entered the classroom where our children were taught sitting on the floor. I am here with the SUBEB chairman and I am giving him an instruction to put all the modalities on the ground for the commencement of the reconstruction of this school. This school is for Edo children.
“The former governor refused Edo children the use of these books provided by the President, but he could not provide seats for the children to sit comfortably while learning. The action of the former governor is an act of wickedness of the highest order.”
He added, “This administration is coming back to renovate the school, and in the next few weeks, you will start seeing transformation in this school in terms of reconstruction.
“We have gone round to look at the facilities and structure of the school, and it is in a serious state, desiring attention, and the Governor failed to develop the state and the school. It is not acceptable.
“Keeping these books away from our children is wickedness, and his actions were wrong. He said he has developed the education system using Edobest, but what we see here today is not best for our children.”
For his part, the SUBEB Executive Chairman, Iyamu, said the governor gave a matching order for the books to be distributed across the state’s 18 Local Government Areas and that the order would be strictly carried out.
