Sanwo-Olu, Educators & Employers Canvass For Stronger Partnerships At Lagos Education Summit

Posted on September 1, 2022

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has declared that education is one of the cardinal objectives of his administration given its high budgetary allocation, noting that in the last three and a half years the State government had embarked on massive infrastructure development in public schools and the implementation of over 1000 initiatives in the education sector.

Sanwo-Olu, who spoke virtually at the opening ceremony of the Y2022 Lagos Education Summit held at the Eko Convention Centre, Eko Hotels and Suites with the theme: “Creating a Sustainable Fit-For-Purpose Education Model”, acknowledged the lofty works of the State Ministry of Education and other related agencies in improving the State’s education system.

He said: “Due to our strategic intervention, our students have improved tremendously in their WAEC examinations. Teacher Welfare is also critical and I am happy with our modest success, including the EKO-EXCEL programme which is achieving numerous goals. At the end of the Summit, a real conversation about the fit-for-purpose education model would have been achieved”.

In her opening remarks, the Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Folasade Adefisayo, noted that Lagos State is the sixth largest economy in Africa and cannot be ignored as an essential player on the global scale.

She explained that the Lagos State Education Summit is important because some of the outcomes would contribute to the process of proffering solutions to the well-known problems in the sector, noting that the Lagos State 30-Year Development Plan would provide the drive for the T.H.E.M.E.S. Development Agenda of which education is a focal point”.

She said: “Lagos is about the audacity to dream, the audacity to imagine things and make them happen. Nigeria has the largest number of out-of-school children among other key performance indicators. Hence, enormous work must be done to systematically improve and enhance our education sector for the sake of the children and future generations”.
In her goodwill message, Vice-Chancellor, Pan Atlantic

In her goodwill message, Vice-Chancellor, Pan Atlantic University, Professor Enase Okonedo, stated that knowledge-based education is no longer adequate and non-traditional ways of learning should be employed, saying: “We need to invest in education as it goes beyond knowledge and also encapsulates character and training of the mind”.

At the plenary session/panel discussion, panelists including Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Mr. Sam Egube; British Council Country Director, Mrs. Lucy Pearson; Co-Founder Future Africa, Mr. Iyinoluwa Aboyeji; CEO of Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG), Mr. Laoye Jaiyeola and Director/Chief Executive Officer, Sterling Bank, Mr. Abubakar Suleiman agreed that in order to achieve a radiant Fit-For-Purpose education model, there must be synergy among critical stakeholders in the education sector.