The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, On Wednesday, laid the foundation for the development of the Edo State Polytechnic School of Mining and Management, in Igarra, Akoko-Edo Local Government Area of the State.
The governor at the event launched the Digital Resource Center for Akoko-Edo Local Government Area, reassuring his government’s commitment to enhance access to internet connectivity and expand the state’s digital economy.
Obaseki was also conferred with a chieftaincy title in recognition of his developmental strides across the State and commitment to the betterment of the people of Igarra and Akoko-Edo LGA.
The governor said, “I want to appreciate and thank His Royal Highness (HRH) for the honour done to me this morning by first conferring on me a title for the modest contributions which I have made to Akoko-Edo and Igarra. I appreciate and accept the title of Okasime of Igarra Kingdom.”
Noting his government’s holistic revamp of the state’s education sector, the governor said, “The greatest development you can give to the people is education.”
According to him, “Since we came into government, we have improved education in Edo State. We started from the foundation of education, the basic education system, investing in the EdoBEST programme. Across Edo State, our children are receiving the same quality education. We are very proud of the outcomes because, in our state, any child in basic school can read at the age of 10 and compete with any child across the world.”
He added, “I promised you when I became governor that I would build a system that will ensure that when our children leave school, they will be able to work. Now, we are investing in our technical school, the polytechnic to enable our young ones to acquire skills and have jobs. We want to build schools both vocational and technical where our children can learn what is available in their area to attract industries.”
Speaking on the activities of illegal miners in the LGA, Obaseki further noted, “Akoko-Edo is blessed with abundant natural resources as people come to Edo State with various pieces of paper given to them from Abuja to come and mine in the State and create problems in our communities and State.
“We have our dynamic Commissioner for Mining and the Chairman of Akoko-Edo Local Government Area, who are performing creditably well. We have made a rule that anybody who claims to have a mining license must partner with both the local and state government before they can mine in Edo State.
“Part of the condition to mine in the State is to invest in training our people in this school to enable them to have people who will work for them in their mining companies. This school is very important and strategic because it will have the resources from the government and the companies mining in Edo State to train our children in this community.
“People should not come here to do the work our children should do. That is why I am here today to do the foundation laying ceremony of the Igarra campus of the Edo State Polytechnic which will be the School of Mining and Management in Edo State. We are doing the same in Edo South with the College of Agriculture, where investors in the oil palm sector are working with us to build our College of Agriculture.”
He continued: “This school will be one of the best schools in Nigeria if not West Africa to train students in the area of mining. Edo State Polytechnic now has understanding and partnership arrangements with two Chinese Polytechnics. They will help us to get the expertise and teachers to train those that will be in this school.
“This school will offer programmes such as National Diploma in Mineral and Petroleum as well as certificates in basic prospecting and exploration for minerals, basic mining practices and techniques, health safety and environment, basic mineral techniques, and basic drilling and blasting in the mining and minerals industries.
“My administration is investing in the area of processing what has been mined here in Akoko-Edo. There are also new investments by investors in mining and processing different minerals in Akoko-Edo LGA. The minerals are here and investors are ready to explore.”
Obaseki added, “Our role as government is to train our people to work and be part of the mining sector. We need your support to build this school and make it a world-class institution, excellent in producing skills and manpower in mining. This can be done if only we have a peaceful environment and with the continuous support of my administration.
“I will end my tenure as governor in a few months time but the project will continue as I have not started a project that I will not complete. Even though I will not be governor by November this year, we will make sure whoever comes in as governor will continue from where we stopped.”
The Palace Secretary, Chief Folorunsho Dania Festus who read the address of the Igarra Community, thanked the governor for the project and for always prioritizing the interest of the Akoko-Edo people.
“Your management of the educational, political, and social-dynamics in the State remains on the sands of time and your name will forever be written in gold. Even if we can’t build all the roads today, we will educate our children to be engineers, and surveyors to build all the roads in the future.”