Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola on Monday commissioned and named a school built for N750 million after Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, at Ejigbo, Ejigbo Local Government Area of Osun State.
The 3,000-student capacity Wole Soyinka Government High School was the first of its kind in the mega-schools series under the education reform programme of his government.
it is one of the schools which Osun State using to redefine the environment of learning with the construction of 100 brand new state-of-the-art Elementary schools, 50 Middle schools and 20 High schools are planned to be built. So far, 14 Elementary schools, 15 Middle schools and 11 High schools have been completed.
Profesor Soyinka, one of the dignitaries at the ceremony, described the school as a great departure from what Boko Haram insurgents preach, lamenting that the situation in which the country till date could not account for the 219 missing Chibok girls is shameful.
Soyinka enjoined leaders in the country to ensure that children are brought up with the mindset that no religion is superior to another.
Prof. Soyinka who commended Governor Aregbesola for doing a great job with the construction of the school said he will not hesitate to frequent the school to see how the students and staff are faring.
The governor earlier stated that though the cost of the High School is huge considering the lean resources of the state, the investment is worth it.
Aregbesola said that by the first quarter of next year, his government would also commission for use another set of schools in the same category.
He stressed that no government can overspend on the education of the people, adding that education is human development and the primary way any family can get a lasting benefit from government.
The governor noted that one of his first acts in office after inauguration in 2010 was to hold an education summit chaired by Prof Wole Soyinka, adding that the rehabilitation of schools and construction of new ones were derived from the outcome of the summit.
Aregbesola said it is befitting that Osun named the school after Prof Wole Soyinka, whom he described as an excellent product of public education in Nigeria and a distinguished academic who brought honour to Yorubaland, Nigeria, Africa and the black race with his Nobel Prize in Literature in 1986.
Speaking earlier, the deputy governor held that the administration of Aregbesola has brought a lot of laurels to the state with his giant strides in education.
-Leadership