Chukwumerije Withdraws Endorsement Of Aregbesola’s Educational Policies

Aregbesola-ChukwumerijeChairman of the Senate Committee on Education, Senator Uche Chukwumerije, has withdrawn his committee’s ringing endorsement of the education policies of the Rauf Aregbesola administration, saying the good policies have been ‘darkened’.

Senator Chukwumerije in a statement issued yesterday in Abuja, said the decision to withdraw the endorsement was due to feelers from stakeholders in the state who claimed that the reality as seen three years ago have been eroded.

The senator had in 2012 while leading a delegation of the Committee on Education on a supervisory visit to Osun State, commended the education policies of the Aregbesola administration as unprecedented in the country.

“The Governor of Osun is God-sent to his people. Aregbesola, as a fresh governor, has shown that he is a serious-minded person. For the first time, the education policy of Ogbeni Aregbesola remains the best in the country, even ahead that of Lagos State”, Senator Chukwumerije was quoted then as saying.

But two years down the line, he has reversed himself, saying too many waters have passed under the bridge.

His statement read in part: “Two years ago when the Senate Committee on Education visited Osun State as part of its oversight functions, I had cause to commend the education policies of Rauf Aregbesola.

“Over 700 days down the line, a lot of water has passed under the bridge with many insisting that those policies were merely on paper.

“In addition, stakeholders in the State, especially parents, proprietors, and school managers have inundated the Committee with tell-tales of woes in schools in the State, adding that the waters that have passed under the bridge in two years have been muddied. They cited as an example the questionable N8 billion ‘Opon Imo’ project. This has also been confirmed by political opponents of the governor in their public comments. When good policies are darkened the way that project was, then change is a must”, Chukwumerije said.