By Isaac Aimurie and Nosakhare Agbonigiarhuoyi
The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has restated his administration’s commitment to the socio-economic development of the State.
Obaseki gave the assurance on Monday, when he received participants of Course 31 of the National Defense College, Abuja, who are in the State to understudy the policies behind the State’s resilience amid socioeconomic challenges in the country.
The Governor who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Osarodion Ogie Esq., said his administration has been able to sustain its growth momentum as it has invested huge resources in creating jobs for Edo youths through a series of empowerment programs.
He maintained that Edo State has remained a peaceful State for Nigerians of all ethnic groups under the current government and added: “There is no ethnic crisis in Edo, we came into power and the State was like a lawless State that was divided among warlords.
“But we were very clear about what we needed to do to restore law and order. Edo was known for human trafficking and that gave the nation a bad name.”
According to him, the State government decided to confront the problems by initiating the Edo Basic Education Sector Transformation (EdoBEST) program to strengthen basic education, created the Edo State Skills Development Agency to train the youths on highly sought after Information and Communication Technology (ICT)-oriented skills, invested in the power sector and floated the Public Works Volunteer (PUWOV) program amongst other initiatives to create employment opportunities for the youths.
Obaseki emphasized that security challenges in the nation can be curbed if youths are productively engaged, adding “If you do not have youths that are engaged, they will become security problems”.
Leader of the study tour team and Director of Academic Research and Analytical Support of the Nigeria Defense College, Abuja, Commodore Aniefiok Uko, attributed the influx of people into Edo State to the success story of the current administration, and noted that the theme of the tour is: ‘Building Socio Economic Resilience in the Contemporary Security Environment – Edo State in Perspective’.
Commodore Uko added: “The participants will be in the State for the next three to four days to interrogate the efforts of the government that is making Edo State so successful; study; and of course, make worthwhile and viable recommendations which will assist the State, and also which could assist other States in the nation in building resilience and socioeconomic development amidst the security challenges we are having.”
He further said that, “The mission of the college is to prepare selected senior officers of the armed forces of Nigeria and their civilian counterparts for higher level policy, command and staff roles by giving them expertise and knowledge needed to function in single or joint service, as well as extra-rudimental duties”.
The participants were drawn from the Nigerian Army, the Police, State Security Service, Navy, Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC), and sister African countries.
