Rebecca Opaluwa
Across Gombe State, a new revolution is taking place. Technical education is being elevated and given a pride of place, and vocational training and skills acquisition programmes are being promoted.
For years, the complaint in Gombe, a northeastern state, was the poor marks recorded in examinations. In 2011, the state recorded less than 1 per cent pass mark in exams. This probably caused the governor, Ibrahim Dankwambo, in his inaugural speech, to inform the people that his first, second and third priorities for the state was to improve the quality of education so as to improve the state’s human capital.
Indeed, since then, the state government has brought improvement to the education sector. Gombe currently has the only state-owned university of science and technology in the North East. The state also has the College of Education, Billiri, State Polytechnic, Bajoga, and College of Legal and Islamic Studies, Nafada.
But many people are more impressed by the government’s boost for technical education in the state. It was gathered that the Gombe State government has built a number of technical schools with the necessary equipment, where students are taught carpentry, electrical works, computer education and building works, among others. According to the governor, such technical schools and universities of science and technology are the future of Nigeria.
In addition, it was learnt that vocational studies like tailoring, computer education, hair-styling and such have been included in the state’s educational curriculum for primary and secondary schools. After secondary education, young men and women that are unable or unwilling to proceed to institutions of higher learning could begin to earn a living with their vocational skills.
“That is the way to go,” Musa Ahmed, an indigene of the state, noted. “For a long time, we have known that what we need more in Nigeria, in all the states, is vocational studies and technical education. Now, Gombe already has a university of technology, which is a good thing. Then there are several technical schools. Again, primary and secondary schools are also having practical vocational subjects like carpentry, barbering and so on. It’s a good thing, and I’m sure the benefits for our state are enormous.”
A group, Gombe People’s Congress, also has lauded the Dankwambo administration for making technical education its priority, while not discountenancing other areas. The group said the state government has done a lot in the area of infrastructure, including the construction of Gombe Township Road, Kumi Township Road and Biliri Township Road.
“Within the Gombe City Metropolis alone, 87 roads, including six dual carriageways, have been constructed; over 300 kilometres cumulative length of asphalt roads in the state; over 400 kilometres cumulative length of surface-dressed roads; 53 kilometres cumulative length of walkways with an additional 280 kilometres nearing completion; 51 kilometres of roads have been provided with streetlights to light up the city; several bridges across different towns and villages, including the six-span Kuri Bridge, to connect communities that were previously cut off.
“The total estimated distance of roads constructed by the Dankwambo administration stands at over 3,000 kilometres and this is why the group has declared Dankwambo as the best governor in northern Nigeria. This is a leaf that should be borrowed by other states,” said the group’s chairman and secretary, Aminu Abubakar and Aliyu Mohammed, respectively.
Another resident of Gombe, Malam Musa Lawal, said the establishment of the Gombe International Conference Centre along Airport Road was also a plus for the state government.
“It’s a structure that promotes tourism, with an exhibition space, four regular and two executive boardrooms and other meeting rooms capable of sitting between 300 and 500 persons. The main hall is capable of sitting close to 2,000. That was why even former President Obasanjo was obviously impressed with the edifice when he visited Gombe during the state’s 20th anniversary.
“The government has done a lot also in the area of health. The 1,500-bed women and children hospital in Gombe was constructed and fitted with state-of-the-art medical equipment just as the College of Nursing and Midwifery, Dukku, as well as dialysis centre in the state specialist hospital were constructed,” he said.