The Kogi State Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, on Tuesday organised a send-off session for her outgone Permanent Secretary, Pastor Emmanuel Idenyi and two Directors who recently retired from the Ministry.

It was a gathering demonstrative of praises and goodwill messages for the three retirees as they got affectionate valedictory from their colleagues from the Ministry of Education as well as other MDAs and family members.

The two retired Directors are Pastor Isaiah Abah, Director, Internal Audit and Alhaji Nafiu Dare Suleiman, a Director in Quality Assurance Department of the Ministry.

Speaking at event, the Ministry’s Commissioner, Hon. Wemi Jones, FCIB, commended the three celebrants for their hard work and commitment towards the development of education sector in the state while in active service.

The commissioner specifically eulogised the outgone Permanent Secretary, Pastor Emmanuel Idenyi, for being a very dependable and reliable ally with a high sense of humility and respect.

Jones described the Permanent Secretary as a responsible, dedicated, punctual and loyal civil servant, while commending the management and staff of the Ministry for their support and commitments to duty.

He stressed that the cordial working relationship and harmonious working environment in the Ministry coupled with the necessary support provided by the state government, brought about the unprecedented transformational development witnessed in the state’s education sector under his watch.

He appreciated His Excellency, Governor Yahaya Bello, for creating an enabling environment and giving all the needed support and encouragement to carry out the Ministry’s functions without any form of interference.

He specially praised the governor for giving education sector the topmost priority and attention especially the 30 per cent allocation to education sector in the 2022 annual State budget

He highlighted the achievements of the Ministry within the period of his service to include a fully enacted State Education Law, improvement in WAEC ranking from 28th to 14th, drastic reduction in examination malpractices to almost zero level, and successful establishment of Education Strategic Plans.

Other achievements include: approval for recruitment of 3900 secondary school teachers, facelift of the Ministry, partial automation of internal examination registration process, among others.

He also commended the two retiring Directors for giving their best towards the development of education in the state, while assuring them of open doors for continual consultation even after retirement.

The commissioner congratulated the celebrants for their years of meritorious and selfless services, and prayed God to continue to guide them in all their future endeavours.

He however challenged the new Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Alhaji Yakubu Dele Musa, to step into the big shoes his predecessor left behind, and ensure that he surpassed his feats.

The Ministry presented gifts to the retirees in appreciation of their contributions towards the development of education in the state.

In their separate responses, the new senior citizens expressed their heartfelt gratitude to the Commissioner and the entire management and staff of the Ministry for the honour bestowed on them.

Pastor Idenyi thanked the Commissioner for the trust he reposed in him and the harmonious working relationship he enjoyed under his leadership, describing the Commissioner as a great leader.

Idenyi extended his appreciation to the Governor for the opportunity given to him to serve as a Permanent Secretary especially in the education sector.

He thanked the management and staff of the Ministry for their unalloyed support and commitments to duty which resulted into the tremendous achievements recorded under his tenure as the education Permanent Secretary.

The two retired Directors; Abah and Suleiman, in turn thanked the Commissioner, the management and staff of the Ministry for their cooperation while in service and the honour done them at retirement.

Dignitaries at the occasion were: the Commissioner for Youth and Sports Development, Hon. Idris Musa; the Rector, Kogi State Polytechnic, Dr. Salisu Ogbo Usman; and the Chairman, Caretaker Committee of Permanent Secretaries Forum, Alhaji Salifu Ameh.

Others include: the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Commerce, Pastor Ezekiel Shaibu; Mr. Bunmi, a Director at KGIRS; newly retired Permanent Secretaries: Alh. Okeme Jubril, Mr. Sylvanus Akpama, and Mall. Jimoh Mohammed; as well as the new Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Alhaji Yakubu Dele Musa.

End

The Permanent Secretary, Kogi State Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Pastor Emmanuel Idenyi, has urged parents to be a role model to their children and instil leadership traits into them.

Idenyi gave the charge in his paper presentation, titled: ”Preparing Children For Quality Leadership”, which he delivered recently at the ”2021 Graduation, Speech and Prize-Giving Day”, of the Michael Omonogun Memorial Nursery/Primary School, Lokoja.

Idenyi described leadership ”as an art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants it done, adding that to be a visionary is to be a leader”.

The permanent secretary noted that the task of preparing children for leadership, remained the responsibility of both parents and teachers, stressing that the onus lies on the parents for obvious reasons.

According to him, leadership tends to indicate the innate ability of a child to gather different people and help everyone work together towards a singular goal.

”Every kid has the potentials to be a leader in some areas of his/her life. Many successful leaders today learned their leadership skills from the influence of Mentors.

”As parents, we have the opportunities everyday to be a role model to our children and instil leadership traits in them”, Idenyi said.

He further highlighted the necessary ingredients needed to cultivating leadership skills in children, to include: confidence and ability to believe in yourself, social/communication skills, be example, putting a team together, and be a family.

Others are: to allow children make decisions, carrying out domestic chores to develop humility, develop problem-solving skills in the child, get the child a mentor, reward optimism, similarity and difference, and exposing children to reading culture.

He further added that children should be nurtured with entrepreneurial spirit, be encouraged to blaze their own trail, surround them with leaders, good listenship, establish a strong financial practices, among others.

The permanent secretary noted that all parents want their kids to be successful and viewed them as courageous leaders, willing to take on any challenge.

”In as much as this is so, instilling leadership traits in children takes a lot of patience and practice”, Idenyi said.

The permanent secretary lauded His Excellency, Governor Yahaya Bello for his favourable disposition torwards education sector especially the establishment of CUSTECH Osara, and for accented the Kogi Education Law.

He further commended the governor for approving 20 per cent of the annual State budget to education, the prompt release of funds for all internal examinations and other notable feats, recorded by the present Government in the State.

Idenyi also eulogised the Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Hon. Wemi Jones, for his innovative ideas, approaches and actions that had led to the speedy transformation of education in the state.

The pastor prayed God to bless the children with spirit of excellence to take them to higher heights, and be the pride to their parents, useful to their environment, communities and the society at large.

End

The Kogi State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Hon. Wemi Jones, FCIB, has restated the commitment of His Excellency, Governor Yahaya Bello, to ensure massive education transformation across the state.

Jones gave the assurance in Lokoja, while speaking to journalists shortly after monitoring the conduct of 2021 Basic Six Examination (First School Leaving Certificate Examination), held on Saturday across the state..

According to him, the ministry has ensured that a lot of contingency approaches are put in place which had resulted in tremendous improvement upon the last year’s exercise.

”That is why we are having this result that is being attested to by the teachers and other stakeholders’.

”They all acknowledged that there were much more improvements in this exam upon that of last year.

”We have three major internal examinations which are: Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), Common Entrance Examination (CEE), and Basic Six Certificate Examination or School Leaving Certificate Examination.

”My advice to everybody is that we should all be on ground as a team right from the ministry to make sure that things work well and accordingly”, he said.

Represented by the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Pastor Emmanuel Idenyi, the Commissioner urged teachers, parents and pupils to continue to play their roles to ensure compliance with examination requirements and processes at all time.

He assured that the ministry would continue to play its roles, work together as a team by ensuring that they operate according to the drafted action plans.

He added that team work would also complement the Governor’s efforts in transforming education sector, to take its prime place through massive infrastructural transformation in the state.

He emphasised that His Excellency had given the Ministry enough priority through the 20 per cent allocation to education sector from the state annual Budget beginning from last year.

He added that there were ongoing massive constructions and rehabilitations of education infrastructures especially the ongoing GYB Model Secondary schools’ project across the state.

”We must play our role to make sure we complement the effort of His Excellency, to take education to a better place.

”I want to assure you that there will be massive transformation in education sector across the state under this present administration led by His Excellency, Alhaji Yahaya Bello”, he said.

Also speaking, Mr Dipo Ayenibe, the Director Exams, Admissions and Certifications of the Ministry, commended the Commissioner and the Permanent Secretary, for giving them a level playing ground to perform their roles without any interference.

According to Ayenibe, 5,300 pupils are sitting for the exam in Lokoja, and about 45,000 pupils of both public and private schools across the state.

Some of the Teachers at the schools’ visited, commended the State Government and the Ministry for putting the necessary arrangements in place to ensue smooth and hitch free internal examinations.

Mr Ameen Lawal, a Teacher at Model 3 LGEA Adankolo, Lokoja, said, ”as far as this examination is concern, there has been no challenge, everything has been going on smoothly.

”We received all the necessary materials for the exam very early, and we started on time according to the exam time table.

”I give kudos to the State Government and Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, for this tremendous improvement upon the exercise compared to 2020 internal examinations.

The Head Teacher of Saint Luke Model School Adankolo, Mr Abubakar Sani, said that the conduct of the exam has been very orderly and far better than that of last year.

Sani commended the State Government and the Ministry for putting the necessary thing in place which had ensured a successful and hitch free examination exercise

Other schools visited were: Saint Mary LGEA School, Saint Luke Model School Adankolo, Lokongoma LGEA School, among others.

End

The Kogi State Government has expressed satisfaction with the process and conduct of the 2020 Common Entrance Examination (CEE) across the state.

The state Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Hon. Wemi Jones, FCIB, made the remark on Saturday while speaking with newsmen after he led a team to monitor the conduct of the 2020 CEE in some centres in Lokoja.

Represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Pastor Emmanuel Idenyi, the Commissioner also commended the candidates and exam officials for their compliance with the safety protocols against COVID-19 pandemic during the exam.

“The processes and conduct of today’s common entrance examination is quite impressive in all the centres we visited; pupils are well behaved and we are satisfied”, he said.

According to him, the activities for the CEE’s conduct right from data generation, printing of question papers, collection of materials and movement to various centres have been very successful.

He added that the report they were getting from officials who monitored other local government areas, showed that there was no short of questions, no crisis whatsoever, saying, ”it is satisfactory”.

He commended the supervisors and other exam officials for ensuring orderliness and compliance with the COVID-19 safety protocols during the exam.

Earlier while addressing the pupils at Saint Luke primary School, Andankolo, the Commissioner admonished them to be of good conduct during the exam and shun any form of examination malpractice.

He warned that Government would not tolerate any act of cheating in the exam, urging them to be confident of themselves and prayed God to see them through.

A Supervisor in charge of Saint Luke Primary School, Andankolo centre, Mrs Naomi Onoja, told NAN that the conduct of 2020 CEE in Kogi, was a huge success to the glory of God.

”This year’s CEE is very well organised, we arrived very early and there is no short of question papers. We have pupils from 11 schools that will write exam in this centre”, she said.

A pupil from Koggie Academic, Fatimat Albdulraheem; and another, Olusegun Levi from UMCA Primary School, told NAN that they were happy to write the exam.

Other CCE centres visited included: Saint Mary Primary School, Lokongoma Primary School, Phase 1, and Army Day Secondary School, Barracks among others.

End

The Kogi State Government on Saturday extended the fumigation exercise of schools to the Eastern Senatorial District in Igala land ahead of students resumption for exit classes on Aug. 10 in the state.

Speaking with newsmen during the fumigation exercise at Emonyoku Community Sec.Sch., in Ogugu, Olamaboro LGA, the Perm. Sec., Kogi Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Pastor Emmanuel Idenyi, restated Gov. Yahaya Bello’s commitment to ensure a safe and conducive environment for students ahead of resumption on Aug. 10 in the state.

He expressed his satisfaction with the level of proctiveness of the State Government towards the reopening of schools, but urged Principals and Head Teachers to do more on the cleanliness of the school premises to make it fit and safe for students’ resumption.

”The fumigation exercise started in Lokoja on Thursday. On Friday, I and the Ministry’s Commissioner, Hon. Wemi Jones, FCIB, led two different team to Kogi West in Okun land and Kogi Central in Ebira land respectively.

”Today, we are in Igala land; we started the fumigation from Ofu down to Olamaboro and Ankpa Local Government Areas, while the Director of Science and Technology, Mr Dipo Aiyenibe, also led another team to other flank of Kogi East, such as Idah, Dekina, Igalamela, Ibaji and Bassa LGAs.

”From what we have done here so far, and the report I am getting from other team; the exercise has been quite satisfactory”, Idenyi said.

The permanent secretary, however, emphasized on the need for principals and head teachers to ensure cleanliness of schools’ environments to make them conducive and safe for learners.

Idenyi further advised parents and guardians to make haste and pay up their children examinations’ fees by keeping to the deadline on August 18, to avoid any hindrance to the examination conduct.

The permanent secretary thanked the governor for being proactive in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic and for giving the needed assistance to the ministry.

Schools fumigated were: Govt. Girls Model Sec. School, Ogbonicha, Ofu LGA, Emonyoku Community Sec.Sch., Ogugu, Olamaboro, and Federal Science & Technical College, Ogugu.

Others were: Govt. Secondary School, Okpo, LGEA/UBEC School, Ojielanyi-Ojogobi, Ankpa, and LGEA Owele Islamic Primary School, Ankpa, among others.

Schools covered by the team led by the Director of Science and Technology, Mr Dipo Aiyenibe, included: Saint Peter’s College Idah, Holy Rosary College Idah,. LGEA Okonya Primary school Ajaka, LGEA Pry Sch., Ofanwa Igalamela Odolu LGA.

Others were: Federal Govt. College Ugwolawo,, UBE/ LGEA School, Saint Martin’s Pry/Sec Sch, Ofu LGA, Our Lady of School, and CMML Sec, Sch, Anyingba, among others.

End.