Candidates in the Edo governorship election slated for September 21 said they will prioritise the health and education of the citizens including the development of infrastructure if given the opportunity to govern the state.
The governorship candidates of the All Progressive Grand Alliance APGA, Isaih Osifo; African Action Congress, AAC, Oberaifo Udoh; Young Progressives Party, YPP, Okungbowa Paul Ovbokhan; African Democratic Congress, ADC, Derek Izedonmwen; People Redemption Party, PRP, Patience Ndidi Ofure and that of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, Azemhe Azena, gave this indication at the Governorship Debate organized by the Independent Television/Radio in Benin City on Friday night.
Highlighting the necessity of quality health care services and education in the life of every nation, the guber candidates said that the education system had taken a nose dive because it was designed to prepare graduates for the now non-existent white-collar jobs while neglecting technical and vocational component of the education system.
Citing what obtained in developed climes and emerging economies, the candidates said the approach should be exposing our pupils to practical teaching and learning that prepare the young scholars for emerging societal challenges.
While candidates disagreed on the educational model that suits the state’s peculiarities, with some favouring the digitization of the teaching and learning system, they were however unanimous on the need to close the gap created by the dearth of adequate public basic and secondary schools in the state, which they said were needed to effectively absorb the growing number of out of school children in the state.
Government they said, needs to build more basic and senior secondary schools to cover identified gaps for effective management not without paying concerted attention to the recruitment of qualified teachers and the training and retraining of those already employed.
They averred that deliberate efforts would be made to make the teaching profession to attract the state’s best brains through deliberate improvement on their wages and salaries, stressing that only well-motivated teachers can give their utmost in the business of imparting knowledge to the pupils.
Speaking on their respective plans to grow the state’s economy and improve its capacity to generate revenue, the guber candidates said they will go outside the common belief that states shouldn’t have business in doing business by building agro-allied industries taking huge advantage of the state’s agricultural resources including the revamp of existing ones.
Other areas of priorities they canvassed include massive road infrastructure development as well as investment in cement and allied products also taking advantage of the huge limestone deposits in the state in addition to encouraging both foreign and local investors to leverage the opportunities and boost the state’s economy there by growing the tax net without necessarily harassing poor hawkers in the name of revenue drive.
Tourism, they agreed, is another potential revenue source which has not been developed in the state despite the numerous tourists’ sites located in different parts of the state particularly the Palace of the Oba of Benin.
On the prevailing security challenges in the country which is threatening the social and economic life of the nation, they agreed that no development can be achieved in an atmosphere of insecurity vowing to evolve a collaborative security architecture to make the state safer.
They used the opportunity to appeal to those planning to unleash violence on the electorate on election day to give peace a chance as politics is not a do or die affair, adding that there will not be development in an atmosphere of rancor.
