Governor Fayemi delivered a closing message for Ekiti State's first summer youth empowerment training programme. He praised the initiative for keeping youth minds active over summer and developing skills. While education is the government's role, job and wealth creation require collaboration. The governor referenced Japan's post-war focus on functional education combining knowledge and skills. Over $31,000 was spent on technical education initiatives. The governor hopes the training leads graduates to success through acquired skills and pledges continued support.

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GOODWILL MESSAGE DELIVERED BY THE GOVERNOR OF EKITI STATE,
HIS EXCELLENCY, DR. KAYODE FAYEMI AT THE CLOSING CEREMONY
OF THE SUMMER HOLIDAY CAMP TRAINING PROGRAMME HELD IN
ADO EKITI ON FRIDAY, 9TH SEPTEMBER, 2011
PROTOCOLS
I am highly delighted to be part of the closing programme of the first
summer holiday camp training programme in the history of Ekiti State which has
been rightly code-named “Ekiti Youths Empowerment Scheme (EYES)” with the
theme – Acquire a Skill and Create Wealth in Ekiti State.
While advancing reasons for his great passion for free qualitative
education for all Nigerian children, the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo once
said that once given education, “everyone who chooses any given career would
do his job joyfully, conscientiously and to the best of his ability, for it would then
be his own choice and not because he is forced to do it whether by society or by
fate”. We have today moved a bit further by not only exposing our children to
education early in their lives, but also to entrepreneurial skills that would make
them well educated and equally practically useful to themselves and the
humanity.
The target of this training is to rekindle the fire of the innate ability of man
to create. This ability was given to man right from creation and may remain
latent if no conscious effort was made to throw it up for manifestation. I am
indeed happy that, going by the information at my disposal, the empowerment
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programme has greatly succeeded in this regard. I like
to commend the initiative for the summer holiday camp training for our youths
which has now achieved the dual purpose of keeping the busy mind positively
active during the period, as well as develop their skills
May I stress at this juncture that job and wealth creation initiatives cannot
be left for the Government alone, though it is its responsibility to give a policy
direction on such schemes and the enabling environment for their actualization.
The experience of Japan under Emperor Hiroshito is instructive here. After the
1945 bombing of Hiroshima and Nagazaki, the Emperor ordered Japanese youths
of school age to go to school compulsorily for functional education, that is
education which combined acquisition of knowledge with application of it. In
other words, this is the education system where cognitiv, effective and
psychomotor development involving the use of head, heart and hands
simultaneously take place in the life of the youths. We are all living witnesses to
the effects of the Japanese programme in the life and economy of country today.
Such is our dream for the education sector in Ekiti State.
In view of our passion for technical and vocational education as clearly spelt
out under Education and Human Capital Development of our 8 Pont Agenda, a
sum of thirty one million, one hundred and forty six thousand, five hundred and
forty eight naira, forty seven kobo (N31,146,548.47) has been spent on this
education subsector in less than one year of this administration on:
(i) Rehabilitation of the Administrative block at the Government Technical
College, Otun Ekiti;
(ii) Accreditation of three courses in the Technical Colleges by the National
Board for Technical Education (NBTE);
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(iii) Training of Technical Instructors. Despite
the importance of training and retraining in educational services
delivery, it is on record that none of the Technical Instructors and
Education Officers in our Technical Colleges have taken part in any
training programme in the last ten years;
(iv) Prompt payment of running grant to technical colleges;
(v) Construction of 420 student chairs and lockers to complement the
available ones in the Technical Colleges and of course on
(vi) This summer holiday training camp which is the first of its kind since
the creation of Ekiti State.
In order to provide proactive technical education in our Technical Colleges,
the State Government has approved the restructuring of the courses in the
colleges. In essence, we now have four Technical Colleges and two Life
Academics in the State.
Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, this administration is well focused on its
programmes as regards youth empowerment and job creation. We are poised to
change the mindsets of our youths towards technical education. It is my sincere
hope that the step that the graduants of today have taken would lead them to a
successful living through the right application of the skills that have been
acquired.
I congratulate all those who have worked tirelessly for the success of this
programme. You can count on my support in this regard always.
Thank you and God bless.
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