By Favour Nnabugwu

The Minister of State for Education, Barrister Ezenwo Wike, has tasked Federal Government contractors on the need to meet completion of projects deadline in schools.

This is even as he said that  Federal Government’s intervention in the provision of infrastructure and facilities to promote basic education is being vigorously pursued to meet the desired goal.

The Minister stated this during an inspection tour of construction of buildings geared towards this direction in Delta and Edo states and the FCT.

Wike inspected the library buildings under construction at Federal Government Girls’ College, Ibusa; Junior Girl Model School project in Oginibo, Ughelli South Local Government; Federal Government College, Warri, Delta State, and Federal Government Girls’ College, Benin, Edo State.

The Minister, who noted that the construction work in all the sites is nearing completion, however, expressed dissatisfaction at the quality of work done at Junior Girl Model School, Oginibo. Nevertheless, he said that in the upcoming meeting with the consultants and contractors handling the projects, the observed anomalies will be discussed with a view to correcting them and ensuring that none of them lagged behind.

He described the transformation agenda in the basic education sub-sector as a step in the right direction, saying that government is constructing junior model schools in Delta, Rivers, Cross-River, Akwa Ibom and Bayelsa states (though construction work has not started in Bayelsa), as well as intervening in all the Federal Government Colleges, geared towards increasing access to basic education and delivery of quality services.

Inspecting unity schools within the Federal Capital Territory, including Federal Goverment College, Kwali; Federal Goverment Girls College, Abaji and Federal Goverment College, Rubochi, Wike was visibly displeased over the e-library project in FGC, Kwali, which was sited miles from student’s classrooms and hostels.

Wike who apparently did not like the distance of the e-library from the centre of the school said he could not understand the rationale behind siting two libraries in a school while some schools are still struggling to have one.

He did not waste time in reprimanding the principal, Mrs Celestina Omokhede for not officially informing the ministry of its on-going library project and blindfolded the government into investing funds in e-library in the same school.

His annoyance was aggravated when he learnt that the school management has in the last four years been pumping a minimum of N8 million each year into the school library yet, the library is far from being completed.

In her explanation, the Principal of the school, Mrs Omokhede told the minister that she informed the officials of Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) at the commencement of the e- library project that the school has an on-going library project, though orally.

In utter displeasure over the poor management of funds by the school, Wike said; “You are aware that government is building e-libraries in all the unity colleges, why didn’t you tell us you already have library project going on? You are not competent to be a principal of this school. This project started since 2009, it has not been completed and you receive annual budget from the government, you are telling lies.

“We are not happy with the Kwali e-library project because where the project is sited is very far from the school.”