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Tag: Godwin Obaseki

  • Edo Assembly confirms Okungbowa as chief Judge

    Edo Assembly confirms Okungbowa as chief Judge

    The Edo State House of Assembly on Wednesday confirmed the appointment of Justice Daniel Okungbowa as Chief Judge of the State.

    The nominee was screened and cleared by the house committee on Rules and Business and that of Judiciary, led by the Majority leader, Charity Aiguobarueghian.

    Gov. Godwin Obaseki had, in a letter signed by the Secretary to the State Government, Osarodion Ogie, requested the house to screen and confirm the nominee as the chief Judge of the state.

    Presenting the report of the committee before the house, Aiguobarueghian said that Justice Okungbowa was found to be educationally qualified and physically fit to hold the position.

    The committee recommended that the nominee be confirmed, adding that he has the requisite experience to do the job.

    The lawmakers, in a voice vote, unanimously supported the committee’s recommendation and Okungbowa was confirmed as the chief Judge of Edo state.

  • Residents protest bad state of road in Edo

    Residents protest bad state of road in Edo

    Residents of Igarra in Akoko-Edo local government area of Edo State on Monday protested the bad state of Sasaro, Igarra, Ayetoro axis of the Auchi-Igarra- Ibillo road that leads to Ondo state.

    Armed with placard with various inscription including “Sasaro, Igarra, Ibillo road is now a mirage” “what are tax payers money for” among others, the protest started from Sasaro Egbigere axis of the road where the portions have become a nightmare for users which the protesters said have also made it possible for kidnapers to carry out their heinous activities.

    The protest was organized by a coalition of civil society groups including Igara Development Association (IDA), Okpaemri Descendants Union (ODU), Igarra Youth Movement (IYM), Okpameri Youths Association (OYA) and several individuals including religious leaders.

    Speaking on the issue, Victor Arogunyo said “we are appealing to the federal government through the Controller of Works to the Ministry of Works in Abuja to please facilitate funds to the contractor handling the road so that the job can be done fast. Also we are appealing to the Edo state government, yes it is a federal government road but the people who are living here are Governor Obaseki’s citizens and subjects, so we are appealing to Governor Godwin Obaseki through the Commissioner for Roads and Bridges, Hon Ethan Uzamere to please reach out to all involved to fix this road because the economic activities of Akoko-Edo people have been disrupted and almost stopped.”

    On his part, Alaba Lawani said “We are not saying that the government should give us money, we are saying that they should fix our road, we are not asking for too much, we are not asking for the abominable, we are asking for what is ours within the purview of the law, the government should come and fix our roads, we are tired.”

    To Elder Kamshire Moses, “We need the governor’s good will here, we appeal to him, he is the Chief Security Officer of the state, he should do something about the road. Once it is 4 0’clock nobody is ready to ply this road because that is when the kidnappers come out, this time, they will be hiding.”

    To the paramount ruler of Igarra/Akuku Clan, HRH, Oba Adeche Saiki II, Otaru of Igarra “I am surprised that for the past one year, the contractor is still on the same spot. The job is not going well, it is a waste of time, you can hardly travel from here to Benin without encountering troubles occasioned by bad spots.

    I want to appeal to the federal government that if it is finances that are holding back the work, they should please release money for them because we are suffering and finding it difficult to move from one place to another.” He also appealed to the state government to intervene

  • LASU best graduating, Aminat Yusuf offered automatic employment

    LASU best graduating, Aminat Yusuf offered automatic employment

    Governor of Edo State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki has offered recording-setting First Class Law graduate of the Lagos State University (LASU), Miss Aminat Yusuf automatic employment.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Governor Obaseki announced the automatic employment for Yusuf into the State’s public service on Monday.

    Yusuf, who hails from Edo State, emerged as the best ever graduate at LASU with a 5.0 Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) in the institution’s Law Degree Programme.

    Speaking to journalists at the Government House, Governor Obaseki said, “Beyond merely congratulating her, we have offered automatic employment to her.

    “Indeed, we have reached out to her parents and spoken with them. They have accepted that she will be with us and accepted our offer of employment”.

    The Governor whose offer was conveyed by the Head of Service, Anthony Okungbowa Esq., stated: “She has not done her youth service.

    “So, what we are proposing is that we will write to the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) so that she will serve with us here in Edo State so that we don’t run the risk of losing her.”

    On efforts to engender a competitive workforce in the state, the Governor said: “We are committed to improving the quality of human resource in the public service.

    “We have set this as a priority and will get the best to work in the state. We have done everything within our power as a government to ensure that we create an enabling environment for work and as a result, we also want the best hands.

    “We are creating the best work environment here so that the public service in Edo State can become attractive enough for the best talent from within and outside the state.

    “We thank our dear young men and women who have excelled in their studies and we expect that more of them will achieve this feat.

    He noted that aside from the offer of employment, Miss Yusuf has received other forms of support as reward for her sterling feat, stressing that she has indeed given a good account of herself and is a worthy ambassador of the State.

  • Fuel subsidy removal: Edo Govt reduces school days

    Fuel subsidy removal: Edo Govt reduces school days

    The Edo State Government has reduced school days to thrice weekly as part of efforts to cushion the impact of fuel subsidy removal.

    The Chairperson of the Edo State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) Ozavize Salami said this in Benin City on Friday after a meeting between the state’s Head of Service Anthony Okungbowa and other government officials.

    Friday’s meeting was to liaise over the government’s directive that public and civil servants should work thrice weekly following the removal of subsidy.

    “For the three-day work week, we tried to cluster the school learning days into the first three days of the week. We did not want any gaps for administrative reasons. So, children will come on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday in all basic education schools across the state,” she noted.

    She said the government has already put out modalities to meet up with the school curriculum.

    “What we have done also is that we’ve extended the learning time by one hour in primary schools and two hours in junior secondary schools to ensure that the term’s curriculum is achieved,” the SUBEB boss noted.

    “So, we have taken the timetable for Thursday and Friday and integrated it into the timetable for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.”

    On his part, the Head of Service explained that while public and civil servants are to work thrice a week, government offices will be opened throughout the week for services.

    According to him, workers not on duty will operate remotely.

  • Edo govt increases minimum wage, reduces number of work days

    Edo govt increases minimum wage, reduces number of work days

    In order to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy removal the Edo State Government has increased the minimum wage for workers in the state from N30,000 to N40,000.

    The increment in the  minimum wage was announced via a statement released on Tuesday by Governor Godwin Obaseki.

    The Edo governor also reduced working days from five to three, while the remaining two days will be work from home by civil servants in the state.

    He assured that his administration would stand with workers “in these very challenging times”.

    Obaseki also said his administration would do all within its power to ameliorate the sufferings of residents.

    “As a proactive government, we have since taken the step to increase the minimum wage paid to workers in Edo state from the approved N30,000 to N40,000, the highest in the country today,” the statement read in part.

    It added that “the Edo State government is hereby reducing the number of work days that civil and public servants will have to commute to their workplaces from five days a week to three days a week till further notice. Workers will now work from home two days every week.”

  • BREAKING: Obaseki dissolves cabinet, sends all SAs, SSAs packing

    BREAKING: Obaseki dissolves cabinet, sends all SAs, SSAs packing

    The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has dissolved the State Executive Council, thanking members of the council for their service to the government and people of the State.

    The governor said the dissolution of the council takes immediate effect.

    The state’s cabinet was dissolved during the Weekly Executive Council meeting on Wednesday.

    The governor also said that, beginning from today, all Special Assistants (SAs) and Senior Special Assistants (SSAs) have been relieved of their appointments.

    Details shortly

  • Rehabilitation of schools in Edo to gulp N6 billion

    Rehabilitation of schools in Edo to gulp N6 billion

    Gov. Godwin Obaseki of Edo says his administration will spend N6 billion on rebuilding secondary schools in the state between May 2023 and Sept. 2024.

    Obaseki stated this on Sunday in Benin while answering questions from newsmen to end the 2023 Edo Education Week.

    He noted that he wanted to leave behind an articulated plan and direction on what needs to be done and when to do it in the state education system.

    The governorship election will hold in Edo by September 2024 and Obaseki is serving his second tenure which he started in September 2020.

    Obaseki explained that it would be unfair to expect that his administration in five or eight years would solve the problem of the state’s schools that had accumulated for over two or three generations.

    “Between May 1 and September next year, all the funds I used for roads for Seaport project will now go to secondary schools and this is in excess of N6 billion for secondary alone.

    “Unlike basic schools and junior schools, we don’t have federal support for secondary schools.

    “We have Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) supporting State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) but for secondary schools, there is no support.

    ”So, we have to put up mechanism to rebuild all our secondary schools. But we will not be able to finish all the schools but we have started by having a financing plan

    “What we have done is to start the process and set direction and hope that the citizens will hold the government accountable and responsible by ensuring that they deliver on what they expect within available resources,” he said.

    The governor said that it is humanly impossible to rebuild all the schools and classrooms, as well as putting furniture and have all the textbooks as required.

    He said his government had started making significant progress and demonstrated that changing the education system is possible and not rocket science.

    “We expect that the last phase of the project is to be able to have measures for learning outcomes, we have hired all the teachers and so on. This would enable us to measure what the children have learnt,” he said.

  • What I want to be remembered for – Gov Obaseki

    What I want to be remembered for – Gov Obaseki

    Gov Godwin Obaseki of Edo on Wednesday said he would want to be remembered for transforming public education and a better workforce needed for national development in the state.

    Obaseki made this known during the Edo State Education Week 2023 with the theme, “Education for Alaghodaro: Investing in quality education and access for our children and youth,” in Benin.

    He noted that his vision for the state in the next decade was to see that the state did not rely on oil resources alone from the Federal Government to run the economy.

    “The future we seek is one in which millions of well educated citizens can participate in our economy with the advantage of the knowledge and education which they have acquired.

    “Our grand plan is to make Edo state the best place to live and work by the year 2050, and we have realised that there is no better way to achieve this dream than through education.

    “It is expedient to reiterate that the most cherished legacy I want to be remembered for as the Governor of Edo State is a legacy that we were able to transform public education.

    ”And opportunities for children across the various strata of our society so that they can get a decent world class education, just like we did growing up,” he said.

    According to the governor, As many of you know, we started these reforms in 2018, when we launched the Edo State Basic Education Transformation (EdoBEST) programme.

    “The programme sets a structure to address fundamental challenges such as quality of teachers, infrastructure and learning materials,” he added.

    Obaseki, however, expressed gratitude to world bank and other stakeholders for their support in sustaining the EdoBEST which had enhanced the quality of education in the state.

    The state Commissioner for Education, Joan Oviawe, said the ministry was committed to making every child a reading champion.

  • Gov Obaseki begs residents to accept old N500, N1000 notes

    Gov Obaseki begs residents to accept old N500, N1000 notes

    Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki has appealed to residents of the state to accept the old naira notes.

    His appeal comes after the Supreme Court ruled that the old N500 and N1000 notes remain legal tender till December 31, 2023.

    The Edo State Government is one of the co-defendants with the federal government against Kaduna and some other state governments that urged the Supereme Court to nullify the February 10 deadline for old naira notes set by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

    However, Obaseki in a statement on Thursday, March 9, by the Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Chris Nehikhare, said the old naira notes should be accepted alongside the new naira notes to facilitate trade and boost economic activities.

    He said: “With the Supreme Court judgement, the controversy over the circulation of the notes have been put to rest and the people are urged to accept and trade with the notes.

    “We are also exploring other means of transaction such as electronic transfers, among others, as all issues of cash available are addressed by the relevant government agencies.”

  • Cash crunch relief: Obaseki orders free bus services by ECTS

    Cash crunch relief: Obaseki orders free bus services by ECTS

    The Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, has directed that beginning from today, Thursday, February 16, 2023, all Edo City Transport Service (ECTS) buses are to provide free services to passengers, as a means of reducing the effect of the cash crunch experienced by the people.

    The directive is applicable to all routes and is effective till Monday, February 20, 2023, after which further announcement would be issued on the matter.

    The government calls on the people to remain calm and law-abiding and assures that normalcy will be restored shortly.