Governor lays foundation stone of N1.2bn school

Gov. Aminu Tambuwal
of Sokoto State has laid the foundation stone for the construction of
the N 1.2 billion Government Secondary School in Balle, headquarters of
Gudu Local Government Area of the state.

Tambuwal,
who laid the foundation on Saturday, said that Gudu has remained the
only local government in the state without a Senior Secondary School.

”The
state government embarked on the project as the area had remained the
only one out of the 23 local governments of the state without a Senior
Secondary School.

”The school will be a co-educational one, both for boys and girls.

”It will also attract students from the state, other states of Nigeria and others from the neighbouring Niger Republic.

”Students of the school would be taught in both English and French,’’ the governor said.

Tambuwal
said that the contractor had since been paid 30 percent of the contract
sum while the project would be completed in the next four months.

The
governor also promised to make funds available for the completion of
the project on schedule and according to specifications.

”Education is key to success both in this world and in the hereafter.

”The school is aimed at improving enrolment, retention and completion of students across the state.

”It is also aimed at improving equal access to education for both the boy and girl child in the state.

”When you educate a girl,you educate the society and when you educate a boy, you educate only an individual,” he added.

Tambuwal
called on the contracting firm to complete the work on schedule,
warning that compromise by supervising engineers would not be condoned.

The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, commended the state government for embarking on the project.

Abubakar also stressed the need for all children to have equal opportunities to education.

The monarch described illiteracy as a ”disease” which makes people to follow others blindly.

Abubakar decried street begging by some children, saying that such an obnoxious act was unIslamic.

The sultan further urged wealthy individuals to provide scholarship to children of the less privileged.

The Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Dr Jabbi Kilgori, said that the project consists of 12 classrooms, laboratories, library, hostels, staff quarters and clinics among others.

The
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Tambuwal also inaugurated the
disbursement of N211 million grants of the Nigeria Partnership For
Education Project and the World Bank.