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GOODWILL MESSAGE DELIVERED BY THE GOVERNOR OF EKITI STATE, HIS EXCELLENCY, DR. KAYODE FAYEMI AT THE CLOSING CEREMONY OF THE SUMMER HOLIDAY CAMP TRAINING PROGRAMME HELD IN

ADO EKITI ON FRIDAY, 9TH SEPTEMBER, 2011

PROTOCOLS

I am highly delighted to be part of the closing programme of the first

summer holiday camp training programme in the history of Ekiti State which has

been rightly code-named “Ekiti Youths Empowerment Scheme (EYES)” with the

theme – Acquire a Skill and Create Wealth in Ekiti State.

While advancing reasons for his great passion for free qualitative

education for all Nigerian children, the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo once

said that once given education, “everyone who chooses any given career would

do his job joyfully, conscientiously and to the best of his ability, for it would then

be his own choice and not because he is forced to do it whether by society or by

fate”. We have today moved a bit further by not only exposing our children to

education early in their lives, but also to entrepreneurial skills that would make

them well educated and equally practically useful to themselves and the

humanity.

The target of this training is to rekindle the fire of the innate ability of man

to create. This ability was given to man right from creation and may remain

latent if no conscious effort was made to throw it up for manifestation. I am

indeed happy that, going by the information at my disposal, the empowerment

 

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programme has greatly succeeded in this regard. I like

to commend the initiative for the summer holiday camp training for our youths

which has now achieved the dual purpose of keeping the busy mind positively

active during the period, as well as develop their skills

May I stress at this juncture that job and wealth creation initiatives cannot

be left for the Government alone, though it is its responsibility to give a policy

direction on such schemes and the enabling environment for their actualization.

The experience of Japan under Emperor Hiroshito is instructive here. After the

1945 bombing of Hiroshima and Nagazaki, the Emperor ordered Japanese youths

of school age to go to school compulsorily for functional education, that is

education which combined acquisition of knowledge with application of it. In

other words, this is the education system where cognitiv, effective and

psychomotor development involving the use of head, heart and hands

simultaneously take place in the life of the youths. We are all living witnesses to

the effects of the Japanese programme in the life and economy of country today.

Such is our dream for the education sector in Ekiti State.

In view of our passion for technical and vocational education as clearly spelt

out under Education and Human Capital Development of our 8 Pont Agenda, a

sum of thirty one million, one hundred and forty six thousand, five hundred and

forty eight naira, forty seven kobo (N31,146,548.47) has been spent on this

education subsector in less than one year of this administration on:

(i) Rehabilitation of the Administrative block at the Government Technical

College, Otun Ekiti;

(ii) Accreditation of three courses in the Technical Colleges by the National

Board for Technical Education (NBTE);

 

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(iii) Training of Technical Instructors. Despite

the importance of training and retraining in educational services

delivery, it is on record that none of the Technical Instructors and

Education Officers in our Technical Colleges have taken part in any

training programme in the last ten years;

(iv) Prompt payment of running grant to technical colleges;

(v) Construction of 420 student chairs and lockers to complement the

available ones in the Technical Colleges and of course on

(vi) This summer holiday training camp which is the first of its kind since

the creation of Ekiti State.

In order to provide proactive technical education in our Technical Colleges,

the State Government has approved the restructuring of the courses in the

colleges. In essence, we now have four Technical Colleges and two Life

Academics in the State.

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, this administration is well focused on its

programmes as regards youth empowerment and job creation. We are poised to

change the mindsets of our youths towards technical education. It is my sincere

hope that the step that the graduants of today have taken would lead them to a

successful living through the right application of the skills that have been

acquired.

I congratulate all those who have worked tirelessly for the success of this

programme. You can count on my support in this regard always.

Thank you and God bless.