Inspection: Okpebholo Rubbishes Obaseki’s EdoBest, Expresses Dissatisfaction at ‘Terrible’ State of Schools

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Edo State Governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo, on Wednesday promised to rebuild some dilapidated public schools in the state, expressing utter dismay at their deplorable conditions and learning environment as he embarked on inspection of schools in the state. The governor was confronted with collapsed school buildings, as well as poor sanitary, security and learning conditions, and promised to overhaul them.
Accompanied on the tour by the Chairman, State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Paddy Iyamu, and other top government functionaries, Governor Okpebholo visited Eweka Primary School, Obazagbon, Oroma Primary School, Amagba; Amagba Secondary School; and Uyiosa Primary School, Uzebu; all in Oredo Local Government Area of the state. He wondered at the kind of “EdoBest” programme ran by the past administration, saying, rather than improving on the fortunes of the people, the initiative rather deprived the Edo child of a comfortable learning environment.
Recall that Prince Kassim Afegbua, a stalwart of the ruling All Progressives Congress, speaking on Tuesday after the inauguration of the State’s Assets Verification Committee by the governor, had been very critical of EdoBEST, a legacy education reform of ex-Governor Godwin Obaseki.
Afegbua said, “They talked about education, that we are trying to dismantle the EdoBEST education platform. We want to tell you categorically that the on-the-spot-assessment we carried out of some secondary schools in Edo South, it is disheartening to note that whereas the previous government talked about EdoBEST, what we saw on the ground was the worst scenario of how education should be – dilapidated schools infrastructure, lack of teachers – and only at the eleventh hour they were rushing from pillar to post to ensure that they plant landmines on the way for us”.
Stopping over at Eweka Primary School, Obazagbon, the governor said with dismay, “Look at the situation of this school; it is terrible, and children are here. And this is the so-called EdoBEST. For me, this is not acceptable. My administration will fix this school.
“This school must be fenced and by next week Friday, I will be here to see the level of work done because work will commence and in the next few days, you will see the transformation in this school. This school has just five teachers. My administration will correct the wrongs and make amends because our job is to make Edo people happy and our children educated in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr. President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”
At Oroma Primary School, Amagba, Governor Okpebholo said: “this is PDP’s EdoBEST. It is what we are seeing now, but we will come with our Renewed Hope Agenda for Edo people. New things will happen in this school. All that they don’t have, we will provide. In the next few days, construction will be going on here.”
The Governor and his entourage also visited Amagba Secondary School where some persons had encroached on the school’s land. Senator Okpebholo promised immediate fencing of the school while warning perpetrators to desist from encroaching on school lands. At Uyiosa Primary School, Uzebu Community, Governor Okpebholo promised to rebuild the school and provide security as he frowned at the unconducive learning environment.
Some excited residents of the area commended the move to rebuild the school after years of dilapidation.
SUBEB Chairman, Paddy Iyamu, said immediately the Edo State Governor inaugurated him, he gave a marching order that every Edo child in any school in Edo State must matter. He said every Edo child must have access to basic infrastructure and the overall well-being of their learning process must matter.
“We came here yesterday, and what we met on ground was worrisome as this is the only government school in this community. Sadly, the CORA City Obaseki-led administration claimed its building is close to this place. No infrastructure, no learning materials and classroom. It is not habitable. We are here with His Excellency who promised to begin work here to enable every Edo child access to quality education”.
However, the People’s Democratic Party, (PDP) contended that under EdoBEST, it never promised to fix all the schools in the state. Berating Governor Okpebholo for some of his actions, the caretaker committee chairman of the party, Dr. Tony Aziegbemi, at a press conference on Tuesday, contended that EdoBEST was not about the physical structure of schools.
Dr. Aziegbemi said “Most laughable however was Okpebholo’s recent visit to a school where he desperately attempted to disparage the EdoBEST programme, which was widely acclaimed as one of the most impactful basic education reforms in Africa.
“EdoBEST is not about the physical structure of a school. Is it important? Yes, it is important. But there is no government that can do more than over 2,000 schools in the state.
According to him, “The PDP government has done its best and successfully worked on over 340 schools from the many others across the three senatorial districts. The ball is now in his court to do his part, just as the PDP government did. He should stop complaining and focus on delivering results for the people, if he really has anything to offer the people”.
Condemning the composition of the SUBEB Board, which he argued, was in “total deviation from the provisions of the SUBEB Act”, Aziegbemi said “It confirmed our fears that APC and Okpebholo are only interested in the possibility of award and execution of contracts by SUBEB and not the formulation, regulation and implementation of education policy”.

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