‘Education, key to development’

Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola on Wednesday handed over 24 ultra modern classrooms to Gbagada Comprehensive Junior High School, saying the state is reemphasising the central place of education.

The governor, who was represented by his deputy, Mrs. Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, added that education was not only a vital tool for fighting ignorance, poverty and disease; it was also a great asset in achieving technological breakthroughs and national development.

He urged members of the community to make the best use of the facility, assuring them that the government would also address all infrastructural issues such as the construction of an overhead bridge to link Gbagada and Ladi-Lak communities in due course.

Fashola said, “Education remains the best investment any society can bequeath to its citizens as an enduring legacy. It remains the powerful agent of transformation and the engine that drives the socio-economic development of any nation.

“Lagos State has continued to be pro-active about education by investing heavily in the sector to give our citizens the best opportunities to compete globally through acquisition of the right skills and competence in our educational facilities.”

The governor urged the pupils to excel in their academic pursuits. This, he said they could achieve, if they made good use of materials provided in the school. He also advised them to maintain the facility well.

The Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Olayinka Oladunjoye, said infrastructure was important in delivering qualitative education, adding that any environment that a pupil would learn must be conducive.

She said the government had continued to upgrade existing infrastructure and provide new ones where unavailable through the construction of classroom blocks such as the Gbagada Comprehensive Junior High School.

She said, “Provision of laboratories, libraries and ICT centres have been on a continuous basis. We have also continued to provide for these schools as well as distribute free textbooks to the pupils. We have also been training and retraining the teachers.”