Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State will, on Wednesday, inaugurate all 16 newly appointed commissioners, Secretary to the State Government, Head of Service, Permanent Secretaries, and Accountant General of Oyo State.
The inauguration ceremony, to be held at the governor’s office in Ibadan, is expected to feature the governor assigning portfolios to the commissioners.
The event comes hours after the state House of Assembly, on Tuesday, confirmed the second batch of nine commissioner-nominees, including Mr Segun Olayiwola, Dr Wasiu Olatunbosun, Mr Olasunkanmi Olaleye, Mr Dotun Oyelade, Mr Williams Akinfunmilayo, Mr Ademola Ojo, and Mr Abdulmojeed Mogbonjubola.
At Tuesday’s plenary, presided over by the Speaker, Honourable Adebo Ogundoyin, the Assembly decried the dearth of teachers in public primary schools in the state, negatively impacting the standard of education offered to pupils.
The Assembly noted that the dearth of teachers is compounded by the fact that the last recruitment of teachers to public primary schools in the state was done in 2014, while 4,994 teachers retired from service between 2019 to June 2023.
Contained in a motion by the Leader of the House, Honourable Sanjo Adedoyin, and Honourable Dele Adeola of Iseyin/Itesiwaju constituency, the Assembly said the shortage of teachers had left a serious vacuum in the primary school system, even with more teachers set to retire.
The lawmakers described as worrisome the typical scenario in some schools of having only two teachers available to teach students from primary one to six. Honourables Abiola and Oluwafowokanmi argued that it was high time a state of emergency was declared on education at the primary school level, as it is foundational and key.
The Assembly urged the executive arm of government, through the Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), to urgently take necessary steps to employ qualified teachers for primary schools to fill existing vacancies and rescue the education sector of the state.
Also, the state Assembly again decried the surge in kidnappings in the state, including the recent kidnapping of a medical practitioner, Dr D.O Lawal, working with Baptist Medical Centre in Okeho, and a young lady named Kafilat.
The victims were kidnapped on Sunday in a taxi along Okeho/Isemi road in Kajola Local Government, and their whereabouts have remained unknown since then.
Honourable Musibau Azeez of Kajola State Constituency brought attention to the recent kidnapping through a Matter of Urgent Public Importance, stating that people living in Okeho, Iseyin, and other areas in the Oke-Ogun area of the State now live in panic and fear of being killed or kidnapped.
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The Assembly called on the Commissioner of Police, Amotekun, and other security agencies to urgently swing into action and secure the release of Dr D.O. Lawal and Kafilat.
The Assembly expressed concern that the lack of synergy among security agencies and poor surveillance could be the reason for the rise in insecurity, especially kidnapping, in the State.
Furthermore, the Assembly urged the Executive Arm of Government to put necessary machinery in place for the installation of CCTV cameras, security lights, and other gadgets in strategic locations in the State, which would expose or identify the faces of criminals in the State.
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