- Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State has declared that his administration had prioritised education in a bid to standardise the sector.
The governor said his administration would soon start massive renovation of secondary schools across the state as part of the efforts to improve the education sector.
Akeredolu stated this at the inauguration of the late Imam Abdulsalam Alake Library at Akure Muslim School, and the launching of a book titled: “Imam Abdulsalam Alake: his life and legacies,” in Akure, the state capital on Saturday.
The project which is worth over N32 million was built by children of the first indigenous Chief Imam of Akure Community, Late Imam Abdulsalam Alake.
The governor, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Princess Oladunni Odu, said the renovation would give good and new looks to secondary schools in the state as it had been done in primary schools across the street
Akeredolu said, “We have a plan to start massive renovation of secondary schools in the state very soon and Akure Muslim School will benefit. If you recall, it was the governor that renovated the Akure Muslim Primary School. Today, the school is wearing a good look.”
Akeredolu noted that his administration had keyed into educational development as attested by the renovation of primary schools across the state.
Noting that education was capital intensive, the governor called on individuals and organisations to collaborate and support the government “because the government cannot do it alone. That is why we are happy with what the children of late Imam Alake have done by providing this library in this place.
“Education is the business of everybody. All hands must be on deck in the education sector,” he stated.
The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, who was the special guest of honour at the ceremony, described the library as a centre of acquisition of knowledge for secondary and tertiary education.
“Library is important. It is a citadel of knowledge, not the school. The soul of education is in the library. It is sure belief that library contains all you need,” he said.
In her remarks, one of the late Chief Imam’s children, Dr. Munirat Ogunlayi, said the library was built as part of the efforts of the family to contribute to the development of society.
“Our dream is for the library to be a reference library in Ondo State if not in Nigeria. We’ll like to implore and work with the school and the Ministry of Education on proper management including deploying a professional librarian to handle the proper management of the library and instituting a system of conducting annual audits to ensure books and items are always in place.”
Source: The Punch