History is replete with stories of transformational leaders, who led their people from the bondage of hopelessness to an era of bliss and buoyancy.
They pursued their vision with the keen intent of touching all the fundamentals that could enhance development in their generations and generations to come.
They saw their being fortunate to be in the saddle of power as an opportunity to serve and put in place phenomenal projects that would make the world a better place to live for their people.
Transformational leaders always make the impossibility possible. They built the Effel Towers, The Great Wall of China and The Statue of Liberty. They initiate free education and bring to bear what has never been done before.
They are rare men of hope who saddled themselves with the onerous task of not just making a mark also striving to ensure that the less privileged or the so-called poor people are proudly given a sense of belonging in the social matrix.
They embark on projects that leverage the gap from the haves and have not just to ensure the balancing of the law of social stratifications.
They strive to raise hope for the poor and embark on pro-poor projects that are astoundingly surprising and trans-generationally innovative.
One of these is the Primary School Project which Governor Akeredolu has been planting in Ondo State.
There has been no such profound efforts and energy anywhere in Nigeria at restoring hope into the public primary education.
Piqued by the parlous state of the public primary schools in the State and remembering that these schools still parade those antediluvian structures of old thereby giving room for the sprawling of private nursery and primary schools which do not only exploit the parents but exclude the wards of the poor who cannot afford the exploitative fees, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu believed that there is the urgent need to rescue the public primary schools from coma.
As a man who will never execute any of his concepts in half measures because to him, whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well, better and best.
To him, one cannot build something on nothing, as primary education is the foundation on which the other educational super structures would rest.
It the public primary education continued to be defective, and then the masses of the pupils were bound to carry the burden forever. And this must not be so. Not in Ondo State where education is the main industry. Hence, the conducive environment for education Concept has to address this.
Thus, the Primary School Project is aimed at revitalizing the foundational structure of education by re-energizing the curriculum, the teachers, instructional materials and educational incentives for stakeholders evolved.
Also of importance is the ambience and the atmosphere where the pupils received knowledge, which must be qualitative, as a highly responsible government is supposed to be generous in provision of facilities for its educational institutions in a way that is better than the private proprietors.
Governor Akeredolu thus decided that, for Ondo State, the public primary schools must be the best in terms of curriculum execution, manpower, instructional materials and structure.
The renovation and rebuilding School Project is the brain work of a visionary which hangs on the idea of massive renovations of existing Schools and re-building of dilapidated ones .
Hence, Arakunrin Rotimi Akeredolu decided to turn all the primary schools in the State to a great modern look Schools with strict adherence to what are United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) specifications as powered by Subeb.
All the classrooms are fitted with ceiling fans, the walkways are cobbled with interlocked blocks in circular complex.
As the Hero magazine Online Crew of Dr Akinbiola Sunday – alighted from the car that took them to some of the Schools in Akure, the capital of Ondo State, where some of the school Project is located, a man on a bike who ostensibly realized that the visitors were surprised at what they were seeing, said:”
“You can see what Aketi is doing with our money! This is a public primary school! You may not believe it. It is real. We have seen what he is using our money for. This is one of them. And some thieves have accused him of not doing anything These useless anti-people elements who hate good governance are plotting against him, but they will fail, as we cannot afford to miss this genius who fate has brought development to Ondo State.”
Akeredolu , who gave the assurance during an interview shortly after he inspected the completed Primary Schools now ready for use said his administration’s idea of innovative school project to make the children of the down trodden better placed for competition with the affluent in the society will be pursued without let or hindrance.
He said: “We are creating a social forum to ensure that the children of the poor can rub shoulders with the children of the rich by choice in the society. Nothing but the best is good for us in Ondo State. We told our people that what we are going to put on ground will be world-class class for the future of our State and the future of Nigeria.
“We believe that for us to re-engineer education and reposition it, we must provide the best infrastructural facilities of global standard. We are happy that we dreamt about this and God has helped us to realize it.”
Akeredolu. , who expressed satisfaction on the quality of job done by the contractor said he was optimistic that the quality of the facilities and dthe conducive learning environment being provided by his administration will encourage the younger generation to embrace education which he referred to as the only thing that can break the vicious cycle of abject poverty.
While expressing joy that his government has achieved the objective of the socio-integration in the rural road sector as he confirmed that works is ongoing in different towns in the state. He also reaffirmed the commitment of his administration to democratize access to good roads and education in the State.
A the moment the Government under Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu has completed the reconstruction and renovation of 337 public primary schools in the three senatorial districts.
The government awarded the contracts of 518 blocks of classroom projects under 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 UBEC/SUBEB projects, last April.
The Chairman of Ondo State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Princess Oladunni Odu, broke the news during an inspection tour of the project sites.
She blamed infrastructure rot in the state on the past administration.
According to her, the immediate past administration failed to pay the state’s counterpart fund to enable Ondo State access the matching grant of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), which she said resulted in the poor condition of public primary schools in the state.
Princess Odu said the state paid N3.9 billion as counterpart fund for 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016.
