I AM NOT STINGY, SAYS OBASEKI

By Isaac Olamikan

Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has declared that he is not a stingy man as many perceived him to be.

Governor Obaseki said he could not give out tax payers money anyhow when money is needed to train teachers in the state.

He spoke at the graduation ceremony of 7000 primary school teachers in the state who were trained on pedagogy under the Edo BEST initiative.

Obaseki disclosed that it cost the state government N150,000 to train one teacher annually.

His words, “People say I am stingy but I am not. How can I spend Edo people money anyhow when I need money to train teachers.”

Governor Obaseki further stated that his administration would soon commit N6bn to building and renovation of schools across the state.

He disclosed that the N6bn would be sourced from N3bn out of the Paris Club Refund a d another matching grant of N3bn.

Obaseki said President Mohammadu Buhari approved the spending of N3bn from the Paris Club Refund.

He prolmised that all teachers in the statw would be trained on pedagogy within the next 12 months

The Edo Governor added that more teachers would be recruited next year.

An appeal by Governor Obaseki to the teachers for school hours to extend beyond 1:45pm was rejected by the teachers.

On the non-availability of electricity to charge their devices, Governor Obaseki said he was working hard to provide solar charging point in every school.

According to him, “President Buhari did something that will add to what we are doing. He mandated Edo State to set aside N3bn from the Paris Club Refund which will be matched with another N3bn to rebuild and refurbish all our primary school. We will provide all available facilities within the next six months.”