The Catholic Bishop of Idah diocese, His Lordship Bishop Anthony Ademu Adaji

Richard Elesho

Despite the luxury of having 3 state universities, one in each of its senatorial districts, education is in a total shambles in Kogi State. The Catholic Bishop of Idah diocese, His Lordship Bishop Anthony Ademu Adaji, while expressing concern over the decay and deterioration of public primary and secondary schools in the rural areas of the state, charged Governor Usman Ododo to arrest the situation.

The Clergy called on the governor to wake up to his responsibility in addressing the challenges faced by public schools in Kogi East. He decried a situation where secondary school students were receiving lessons and writing examinations on the floor despite the huge sum of money the state government claimed to have committed to the education sector in the last nine years.

Adaji stated this during the recent Christmas mass held at Saint Boniface Cathedral under the Catholic Diocese of Idah to commemorate the institution of the Catholic priesthood.

The Bishop, who was clearly unhappy over the situation, lamented that less than 10 per cent of public schools are functioning in the state, noting that Kogi East is the worst affected by the deplorable infrastructure.

Pupils sit on the floor in one of the Kogi schools

He stressed that most schools in the zone have deteriorated beyond imagination, asking whether “there is still government in Kogi state”.

“On a very serious note, you can not get 5 per cent functional public schools in Kogi East. Yet billions of naira are being budgeted for education year in, year out. In the last eight or nine years, it has been a total shambles in the area of education in rural communities in Kogi State.

“Kogi state government should stop deceiving itself by using the public schools in the state capital to judge the condition of schools in the local government areas.

“Our concern is that the larger population of the people in Kogi state dwell in the rural areas, and regrettably such places, their educational system, especially secondary and primary schools, are in a precarious situation at the detriment of the children who we claim are leaders of tomorrow.

“If you visit some government schools, both secondary and primary schools in Kogi East, if you are a lover of education and you know what education can do to humanity, you will weep. Therefore, Governor Ododo should do the needful before it is too late.

“I am appealing to Governor  Ododo that as he has started the goodwill of paying regular salaries to both state and local government workers, he should also  include education and infrastructure  as part of the mandate of his responsibility, as both are  necessary for the development of Kogi state”