Steer clear of my state, Aliyu warns Wike

by PRISCILLA DENNIS

Niger State governor, Dr Babangida Aliyu, has warned the acting Minister of Education, Mr. Nyeson Wike, to stay clear of his state, saying the affairs of the education sector are run by riff raffs.
Reacting to the comment allegedly made by the minister on the state of education in Niger State, Aliyu, while signing into law the state University of Education bill, yesterday in Minna, said the minister was not fit to make such uncomplimentary statement about the state.
He said if Wike feels that he can fight his state governor, Amaechi Rotimi, he cannot fight other state governors in the country that way, hence, he should desist from such.
“I don’t know when he got into education; education is not for riff raffs, he should be warned. If he thinks he can fight the governor of his state, he cannot fight other governors, he should take his time,” Aliyu warned.
On the reason for setting up the University of Education, which is to be sited at the current location of the state College of Education in Minna, he said the ivory tower will offer opportunity for the training of teachers not only for the state, but for the whole of northern Nigeria that has no such specialised university.
“All the states in the northern part of the country cannot boast of 50 per cent qualified teachers to man their primary schools and the University of Education in Minna will attempt to bridge that gap and also train people in other areas.”
The governor further added that when the university becomes operational, the state government will set a deadline for unqualified teachers to be certificated in the state.
In his remark, the Speaker of the Niger State House of Assembly, Hon. Adamu Usman, said between 2007 and this year, the Assembly has passed 30 bills, saying that the laws have impacted positively on the lives of the generality of the people of the state.
He said the law on special universities makes it compulsory for the state to set aside at least two per cent of its budget for the funding of the university.
He also argued that setting up the new university will not affect the operation of the Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University in Lapai that is also owned by the state government.

NationalMirror