Former Governor of Oyo State, Senator Rashidi Ladoja has assured the people of the state that Engineer Seyi Makinde’s renewed effort in the education sector in the state will pay off soonest.
According to the Nigerian Tribune, Senator Ladoja made this known at a public presentation of series of books titled ‘history and leadership education for primary and secondary schools in Nigeria’ authored by the president of Reading Awareness Society for Development in Africa (RASDA),Mrs Bukola Ladoja, held at the Banquet Hall, Premier Hotel, Ibadan, on Monday.
The occasion was also used to mark the 75th birthday of Senator Ladoja chaired by Emeritus Professor of history, Bolanle Awe.
The former governor who started by saying “let’s make education what it should be- free and accessible, and that is what the present government is trying to do”, urged Governor Makinde to aim higher in his bid to return the glory of education to pacesetting status in the state.
According to him: “it was sad that our state was constantly coming last in the southern Nigerian in the WAEC ratings, and it’s not difficult to change. I can assure you that by the time Ok we had the next WAEC, with what the present government is putting in place, we’ll do much better than states that had been beaten us.
“Between 2003-2007, we were second on the rating behind Katsina, state of finer president Yar’Adua. With this pace and within a short time, Oyo state should move from 27 to a unit position. I am not expecting us to jump to number one, but at least number five.”
The deputy governor of the state who represented the state governor, Engineer Rauf Olaniyan assured the author of government support in projecting the book to boost the leadership talent in pupils.
He also put it on record that the current administration led by Governor Makinde having got wind of the quality of the book will make an approach to the author on how pupils in the state can benefit from the package.