Lagos commissions new school,
documents education policies, programmes in year book
By THERESA ONWUGHALU and GABRIEL DIKE
Tuesday, January 04, 2011
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Princess Sosan in group photo with the Lagos State’s
contingent to the just concluded 2010 JETS competition
held in Katsina state
PHOTO: THE SUN PUBLISHING
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Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Princess Sarah Adebisi Sosan,
has expressed confidence in the quality of education in the
state saying it was the only key to develop the society. The
Deputy Governor revealed that many parents were already withdrawing
their wards from private to public schools because of quality
education.
She said this while commissioning and inspecting the newly
reconstructed Obalende Primary School, Ijeh Road by Esso,
an affiliate of ExxonMobil, which has a Production Sharing
Contract (PSC) agreement with Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation (NNPC).
During the tour, which was lead by Mrs. Gloria Essien-Danner,
Executive Director and General Manager, (Public and Government
Affairs) EEPNL, Sosan said that the state government was bent
on providing infrastructure, furniture and policy to change
the face of education.
“On behalf of His Excellency, we are happy because this
is in line with the government’s goal to build education
because it is fundamental.”
She noted that “right now, many parents are withdrawing
their children and wards from private schools to public schools
because of quality education that the government is giving.”
She thanked Esso and partners for their thoughtfulness and
performance and also parents, teachers and students while
urging them to take care of the edifice to prove that they
appreciate it.
The Chairman, Eti-Osa Local Government (Ikoyi-Obalende Local
Council Development Area), Mr. Rasaq Adewale Adeniji, pledged
that his administration would not relent in its stride towards
providing sound and quality education.
He noted that education was not just a means of acquiring
knowledge but about generating values and that it was the
beginning of a lifetime contribution and impact to humanity.
In his remarks, the Group General Manager, National Petroleum
Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), Mr. M. Fiddi, (represented
by the Public Affairs Manager, Mr. Kenny Obateru), noted that
the laudable project, the building of the edifice - one storey
building comprising 28 classrooms, two offices, two waiting
rooms, two staff rooms, 37 conveniences, one library, one
sickbay with adjoining office, a playground and fencing/gate
house for the school complex, at the cost of about N82m, was
a manifestation of NNPC and her partners’ commitment
to capacity-building in the sphere of education with emphasis
on infrastructural development.
He said that the Corporate Social Investment (CSI) was in
furtherance of a commitment to invest and upgrade the educational
system in Nigeria and Lagos State in particular.
According to him, the NNPC, represented in the PSC arrangement
by NAPIMS takes very seriously, the need for provision of
sound education for the Nigerian child, as they are the future
of the nation.
Chief Financial Officer, ExxonMobil Upstream affiliates in
Nigeria and Vice Chairman, Mobil Producing Nigeria, Mr. Cyril
Odu, said the handover was in continuation of their practical
demonstration of their commitment to their social responsibility,
especially in countries and communities where they operate.
“Over the years, we have learnt one key principle of
partnership and engagement with all stakeholders.
Our corporate citizenship programs place high premium on education,
particularly, the provision of quality infrastructural support
in schools. That is why in 2007, working with Ikoyi Obalende
Local Council Development Areas and the State and Local Government
Programme (SLGP), which is a division of the United Kingdom’s
Department for International Development (DFID), we identified
the Obalende Primary School as a major project for development.”
The children thanked the state government, ExxonMobil and
partners for removing them from an unfit environment, while
Chairman, Ijeh Community Development Association, Mr. Lanre
Thorpe expressed his happiness for the timely intervention.
In a related development, the State Ministry of Education,
in collaboration with Lake Point Institute, has launched the
Lagos State Education Year Book at the Adeyemi Bero Auditorium,
The Secretariat, Alausa, Ikeja.
Speaking at the event, the Deputy Governor, Princess Sarah
Adebisi Sosan said the book was specially packaged to document
the various policies and programmes in the education sector
as well as its achievement since the state’s creation
in 1967.
She noted that the publication is enriching and informative
for Nigerians at home and in the Diaspora, especially students
who have never visited the country but wish to know more about
educational development in the state.
Princess Sosan reiterated that the education year book catalogued
the strides of heroes past and current efforts at ensuring
that the education sector is raised to that enviable standard
where its products would conveniently hold their own against
products of other climes.
She added that the publication would serve as a general reading
material for all Nigerians especially those interested in
the development of the state education sector.
Earlier in her address, the Permanent Secretary in the ministry,
Mrs. Omolara Erogbogbo said the education year book launched
is a complete compendium of individuals, groups and corporate
organizations that have worked tirelessly both, in the
past and present, to make Lagos State the pacesetter in the
delivery of quality education in the country.
Mrs. Erogbogbo said the ministry would continue in its developmental
strides as promised by the present administration led by Governor
Babatunde Fashola in pursuit of the delivery of quality education
with the continual training, development and improvement in
the quality of teachers and the environment in which they
work.
Also speaking at the event, a former Commissioner for Education
in the state, Dr. Leke Pitan, added that Lake Point Institute
has done so well in collaborating with Lagos state government
to compile a book of the history of the state’s education
sector, and urged parents to help their children learn appropriately.
The chief launcher at the event, Barrister Alade Akesode,
said the administration has really upgraded the standard of
education, and pledged his support for the state’s education
sector in the days ahead.
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