Governor Godwin Obaseki

Jethro Ibileke/Benin

Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has described as education a veritable tool for the building ​of a developed society.

The Governor who said this during a Thanksgiving Mass held at the St Paul’s Catholic Church, in Benin City, to celebrate the 2019 Children’s Day, disclosed that his administration is currently undertaking a holistic review of the state’s basic education curriculum to make provision for subjects that will assist in grooming children who will fit properly into the information age.

He added that subjects such as Career Development, History, Guidance and Counselling, Ethics and Morality are part of new subjects proposed in the new basic education curriculum in the state.

“We want to use education to build a total human being so that at the completion of Junior Secondary school, a child can know what he or she wants to be in life and should fit properly into the society.

“Over the last 40 years, education has gone through so much transformation in the country. What we are doing in Edo is to start a reformation process from the foundation. This is why we are reforming our basic education sector to allow us build the kind of society we want,” the Governor said.

Obaseki said building a better Nigeria depends on the kind of children being groomed for the future.

According to him, “We must focus on the children for a better future for our country. The Nigerian child should see him or herself as part of the Nigerian society and contribute to its development.”

Obaseki disclosed that the 2019 Children Day celebration in the state will be celebrated across the three Senatorial districts of the state simultaneously.

He added that the Deputy, Philip Shaibu, would be in Edo North to celebrate with children, while the Commissioner for Education, Hon. Emmanuel Agbale, will be in Edo Central, while he [Obaseki] would celebrate with children in Edo South.

In his homily, the Assistant Parish Priest, Rev. Father Felix Isedu, urged parents to bring up their children in the fear of the Lord, urging them against abusing their children, which he said reduces the child’s confidence.