From Priscilla Ediare, Ado Ekiti
Ekiti State Governor Dr Kayode Fayemi has reiterated the commitment of his administration towards the take-off of one of the three proposed Army Command Secondary Schools in the state.
The governor gave the assurance at the weekend in Ado Ekiti when he received a delegation from the Nigerian Army Headquarters, Abuja, led by Brigadier General Ifeanyi Otu.
The team, according to the governor, was in the state to interface with Ekiti State Government and assess the practicality of establishing at least one out of the proposed three Command Secondary Schools in the state.
Governor Fayemi stated that his administration is desirous of the take-off of one of the schools at the shortest possible time.
He said the establishment of the Command School would signal the re-enactment of the first army secondary school established in 1968 at Aye Ekiti in Ido-Osi Local Government Area of the state before its relocation to NMS in Zaria.
‘For us in Ekiti, education is not something to play with, it is our life and we are very passionate about it. We consider it an antidote to whatever ills we have in our society and having the presence of such an esteemed institution in our state is actually added value,’ the governor stated.
‘We have a history that the first army secondary school was actually in this State many may not be aware of that in 1968, the first army secondary school was in Aiye Ekiti in Ido-Osi Ekiti and that school operated for a number of years. We have that connection and this will be a re-enactment of that school that was set up several years ago.’
Earlier in his remarks, Gen Otu said that following the request of Ekiti State Government for the establishment of three Command schools in the state, the former Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Bruatai, approved its establishment and constituted a team that visited Ekiti and reverted to the headquarters on their assessment and findings.
He said the three schools could not take off immediately then due to budgetary constraints.
Gen Otu disclosed that the team was in the state based on the instruction of the current Chief of Army Staff, Major General Farouk Yahaya, who had directed them to interface with the state government on the possibility of establishing at least one out of the three proposed Command Schools.
