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By Demola Akinyemi ,Ilorin.

A leading Pro-Democracy group in Kwara State, “Kwara Must Change”has urged Governor Abdurahman AbdulRazaq to compel appointed and elected government officials to enrol their wards in public schools from next year in a bid to invest their faith in public institutions.

The coordinator of the group, Comrade AbdulRazaq Hamzat said this at a press conference in Ilorin at the weekend.

He recalled that the Pro-Democracy group was one of the stakeholders that set the agenda for the present administration when on May 27, 2019, held Kwara  Women summit and at the end of the Summit, demanded at least, 50% women cabinet positions in the state.

He added, “Upon assumption of office as governor and in the magnanimity of his excellency, Mallam Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, the governor forwarded to the Kwara State House of Assembly, more than 56% women cabinet members, which is the best in history of Nigeria, Africa and indeed, one of the best in the world.”

“What Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq did is well above what we requested for and the governor proved to us that, whatever good we are seeking for the society, he’s prepared to do more and he will not only do what is within his capacity to make the society better but will also try, as much as possible, to right the many wrongs, even if it is not politically correct.”

“Kwara Must Change” Coordinator, therefore, commended the current initiative of the governor when he recently signed the increased women participation in government into law, to be implemented by successive administrations, saying,” we are glad that the government introduced this law to institutionalize gender parity in the state, which is an advancement of  the advocacy by our organization, Kwara Must Change.”

In order to further strengthen the system in the public institutions, the Pro-Democracy group urged the governor to compel both appointed and elected government officials to as from next year invest their faith in government by enrolling their wards in public schools.

He said,” Having gotten the advocacy for gender inclusion to a logical conclusion, Kwara Must Change, about 2 months ago, precisely on October 21st, 2021 shifted our attention to the need for public officials to have their children in public schools and we began the advocacy by paying a courtesy visit to the Honourable Commissioner for Tertiary Education, in the person of Barrister Sulaiman Senior, where we made case for the need for public officials to invest faith in public institutions.”

AbdulRazaq noted that “it is clear that the Kwara State government is investing heavily on education infrastructure, it is equally investing on human resources, one of which is the recent recruitment of best of teachers through the transparent and merit-based approach. “

He said, “What is left to complete the transformation process is to create standard, through effective coordination of teachers and administrators and consistent monitoring of students.”, adding that,” this can only be achieved when those saddled with this responsibility also have a stake in the output of their input.’

” We are therefore urging all aspiring public officials, both elected and appointed, that starting from 2023, they should be ready to invest faith in public institutions to have the moral justification to deserve to pilot the affairs of the state.”

Vanguard News Nigeria