Sen Isah Jibrin calls for urgent completion of the Junior Girls Model Secondary School Odu-Okpiyegede in Kogi State
OrderPaperToday -Lawmaker representing Kogi East Senatorial District, Senator Isah Jibrin has charged the federal government on urgent need to complete the Junior Girls Model Secondary School Odu-Okpiyegede in Dekina Local Government Area of Kogi State.
This came to the fore in a motion he sponsored on the floor of the Senate on Wednesday during plenary.
The motion was titled: ‘Urgent Need For The Completion of the Junior Girls Midel Secondary School, Dekina Local Government Area in Kogi State’.
In making case for adequate girl child education in the country, Sen. Jibrin
noted that the Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in 1995, identified the persistent discrimination aganst the girl-child and the violation of her rights as one of the 12 critical areas of concern, requiring urgent attertion by the government and the international community, among which is the need for increasing girl-child education.
He further noted that noted that according to a recent World Bank Report, the female adult literacy rate (ages 15 and above) for Nigeria stands at 59.4% in comparison to the male adult literacy rate of 74.4%.
The Kogi East lawmaker stated that closing the gap in education and ensuring that more girls are educated is essential, not only for building a just society but also a pre-requisite for sustainable development.
He mentioned that education is the right of every girl-child, and a key to transforming her life and making her a responsible member of the society, without which she is denied the opportunity to develop her full potentials and play productive roles in the society;
Sen. Jibrin noted that in view of the significance of girl-child education, the Federal Government, in September 2014, commenced the process of establishing the Junior Girls Model Secondary School at Odu-Okpiyegede in Dekina LGA of Kogi State;
He disclosed that the contract for the construction works was awarded to LAMCO Nigeria Limited through the Kogi State office cf the Sustainable Development Goals, and the construction work was completed in June 2016.
He explained that two blocks of f twin hostels, comprising twenty four (24) rooms, with each room containin doubledecker bed with capacity to accommodate 12 students per room, and 3 blocks of classrooms, comprising 15 Classrooms, each containing 15 lockers for use of 30 students in a class on the basis of two students to a locker, as well as staff quarters of twin two-bedroom and three-bedroom flats, are all in place;
Sen. Jibrin expressed regrets that despite the efforts of the Federal Government as indicated above, no attempt has been made since 2016 to ensure commencement of academic activities.
He lamented that some of the existing structures and facilities have started dilapidating, such as the collapse of the ceiling in almost all the classrooms, damage to some doors and windows as well as lockers, chairs matrasses and pillows.
He is convinced that the completion of the school project and take-off of academic activities will boost the chance of the girl-child in accessing education in Dekina Local Government Area and the environ.
Addressing newsmen shortly after the plenary, Sen. Jibrin lamented the spate of abandoned federal government projects across the country, adding that the Midel Girls School is especially important to to people of Kogi State and environs.
In his words: “My interest in this school is based on two reasons. One the girl child education and the issue of abandoned federal government projects. There are several of them all over the place and alot of money have been pumped into many of these projects and are yet to be functional because they have since abandoned.
“I am more especially interested because it’s a school meant to train girls and you know the roles girls play in the society.
I feel that this type of project deserves completion. This particular project is important to me because it is meant to train the girl child.
“There are so many girls in my Senatorial district wandering around because of lack of sufficient funds to go to school. Public schools as this would go along way to address their educational needs.”
He also expressed satisfaction with the resolution at the upper legislative Chamber, to urged the Ministry of Education to take over the completion of Junior Girls Model Secondary School Odu-Okpiyegede, Dekina Local Government Area, Kogi State.
He assured that he will work with the Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriate to ensure that provision is made adequately for the school.
