Education: You’re Wicked For Hoarding Books Meant For Edo Children – Okpebholo To Obaseki
By The9jaTREND
The Executive Governor of Edo State, Senator Monday Okpebholo of Edo State has berated the immediate past governor of the state, Godwin Obaseki for refusing to distribute books allocated to all schools in the 18 local of the state government areas by the Federal Government.
Okpebholo who described Obaseki as wicked ordered the immediate distribution of the books to all schools across the 18 local government areas of the state.
The9jaTREND recalls that the Obaseki administration had also faced severe backlash and upbraid over its refusal to distribute consignments of rice sent to Edo State as palliative by the federal government to alleviate the people’s suffering.
The governor was also piqued by the pathetic condition of the New Era College, Benin City where students were seen sitting on the ground to learn.
Supervising the distribution of the books and other instructional materials on Monday, Governor Okpebholo described the hoarding of the books which were supposed to have been distributed to school children as an act of wickedness.
Governor Okpebholo, who expressed his feelings when he inspected facilities at the New Era College, a special school for young people involved in sporting activities built by late Dr. Samuel Ogbemudia, then governor of the defunct Bendel State, was accompanied by the Edo State Universal Education Board (SUBEB) Executive Chairman, Dr. Paddy Iyamu; a former member of the House of Representatives for Oredo Federal Constituency, Omoregie Ogbiede-Ihama; and other top government functionaries.
The visibly angry governor said, “These books you see here were donated by the President of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu for use by Edo children, but Obaseki refused to distribute the books to our children because the President’s face is affixed.
“I want to thank the President for his kind gesture, and for me, the action of the former governor, Godwin Obaseki, is an act of wickedness.
“This warehouse is filled with books donated by the President of Nigeria, but because of his wickedness, he 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 a classroom where our children were taught sitting on the floor. This is the kind of EdoBEST programme Godwin Obaseki brought to Edo children.
“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.
“Obaseki refused Edo children the use of these books provided by President Bola Tinubu, 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.”
Okpebholo promised that his 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 the best for our children.
In his comment, Dr. Iyamu, the SUBEB Chairman, said the governor gave a matching order for the books to be distributed across the 18 Local al Government Areas of Edo State and that the order will be carried out strictly.
“Obaseki deprived Edo children of using these books provided by the President of Nigeria, Ahmed Bola Tinubu, and was stored away from the reach of Edo children.”
