By Gloria Osemudiamhen
In commemoration of the 2025 Children’s Day celebration, the Office of the Edo State First Lady, led by its Coordinator, Mrs. Edesili Okpebholo Anani, has convened a stakeholders’ forum comprising pupils from selected public schools, to interact and draw a roadmap for enhancing educational outcomes in the State.
During the session at the Government House in Benin City, Mrs. Anani, represented by the Wife of the Secretary to the State Government, Barr. Nimata Umar Ikhilor, urged the pupils to cultivate a culture of learning. She emphasised the significance of education in shaping society and driving positive transformations. She encouraged pupils to share their newfound knowledge with their peers in their respective schools.
Mrs. Anani stated, “I am delighted to have you all here. I want to promise you that this interactive session is one that you will take valuable lessons from. I hope that you pay rapt attention to everything that will happen here and that you will take something back to your schools as leaders in your various capacities at various schools.
“The erosion of values in our society is quite pathetic. Before we got to a point where we decided to say education is a scam, we had gradually begun to view acquisition of wealth, material things, money, as more important to us than acquiring an education or building a reputation or building legacies. Money can never surpass education, no matter how you look at it.
“Take note of that guy whose source of wealth you do not know. One day, those Yahoo boys, the EFCC will come pick him up from the house and you will be sitting in your bedroom and watching from your window. Either the EFCC or something is going to happen to take away all of those resources that he has built over time through shoddy work and illegal means. So, I would encourage you to seek honest livelihood.”
Mrs. Anani emphasised the importance of honesty and integrity, urging the students to uphold values and refrain from engaging in dishonourable activities, saying, “I urge everyone of you to take the path of honour, to take the path of hard work, to choose the path of excellence, to choose to be excellent at whatever it is that you are doing. And I want to believe, that is the one reason you were selected among many others, to be leaders among your peers; to be examples to your juniors.
“Please do not ever deviate from that path. Maintain this path. I know we’re either Christians here or Muslims, or believe in one form of, you know, spirituality or divinity or the other. And the only one thing that our belief has taught us is to be honourable people. To remain honourable, to be honourable in everything we do. The way we speak to people, the way we deal with people.
“Even if you are entrusted with as little as 10 Naira, you apply honor to it. By the time you choose to tow the path of honour, look, you would never have to cross through the deserts of Libya to get to Italy. You would never have to join cultists to win cheap popularity. You would never have to sell your body; you would hold on to your honour. Even if for nothing else but because of the God that you serve.
Let us leave here today with a renewed decision to continue to tow the path of honour and the path of excellence. And I promise you, you will not just make money; you would have good reputation before God and before man.”
The Edo state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Cyril Adams Oshiomole emphasised the dangers of engaging in social vices such as cultism, pornography, amongst others and encouraged the pupils to prioritise education. According to him, “Please you have to shun cultism, it is a very big issue in Nigeria. Cultism and drugs use; we have seen doctors, senior registrars, who died from drug use. Even in Abuja, drug has become a serious epidemic in our society. A lot of people want to feel cool by taking different drugs. You can be social without taking drug.
“Donald Trump, the President of America as a billionaire, does not take drug or alcohol. you don’t need to take drug to become a billionaire or a doctor. They will tell you, when you are a cultist, you will have connections. They use those things to entice you; those are lies from the pit of hell. So, please do us a favour; ten, twenty years from today, I want you to remember this day that you will not be involved in any form of cultism, if you are well educated, I don’t think you need to start crossing oceans. With education you can get degrees and Master, you can have scholarship; when you are smart, people will look for you. Let emphasise on values of doing the right thing even when nobody is there to watch you.”
The meeting featured a lecture themed, “The Importance of Education in Shaping a Brighter Future” delivered by a lecturer from the University of Benin, Dr. Amen Ogbemudia. She emphasised the significance of education and discipline, among other key factors, saying, “Education is an adventure that never ends. You start learning from the day you were born, from the confines of your parents. You can only learn limited things from the four walls of your parents. Always learning, leads to new discoveries.
“Education is about knowledge and character. The future you want is what you build. The character and value that you have taken away from education today is what will be the architect of the building of your life in future. Learn what you need to learn as development will not come without education. School is not a scam. Money can never overcome education.”
Pupils from Imaguero College, Western Boys High School, St. Maria Goretti, Ihogbe College, amongst others, expressed concerns about several challenges affecting their learning experiences. They advocated prompt intervention from the relevant authorities to address the identified issues, including the need to enhance their educational environment.
Other concerns included inadequate laboratory facilities and equipment, insufficient water supply, teacher shortages, lack of perimeter fencing for security, inadequate security measures, limited vocational training opportunities, insufficient computer laboratories, poor toilet facilities, lack of recreational equipment, among others.
Highpoint of the occasion was the administration of Oath of Non-membership of Cultism on the pupils’ representatives by Dr. Oshiomole. The pupils pledged to abstain from cultism, drug abuse, and other social vices.
