By Richard Eweka
This article is the fifth in the series, x-raying the SHINE Agenda of governor Monday Okpebholo led administration. SHINE stands for Security, Health, Infrastructure, Natural Resources and Agriculture and Education (SHINE).
Governor Monday Okpebholo is aware that education is the bedrock of a civilized nation and the legacy any government will pass on to the youths to enable them continue in the role of leadership.
This fact has made the governor through the SHINE Agenda focused on the education sector, rewriting the wrongs and changing the narrative to put the youths on a better footing in taking over the leadership roles of Edo State and Nigeria.
Immediately the governor assumed office, he took a tour of schools across the State and discovered decay and collapsed infrastructures, unmotivated manpower, poor academic performance and more other issues responsible for the retrogression experienced in the education sector in the past eight years.
The State’s Tertiary Institutions are not left out as the burdens inherited in the education sector were that of years of neglect. The physical growth and development in the sector was experienced during the red roof revolution of Comrade Adams Oshomohole as governor of the State between 2007 to 2016.
Not satisfied with what his administration inherited from the Godwin Obaseki led administration, governor Okpebholo declared a State of emergency in schools across Edo State focusing on creating safe, functional, and dignified learning spaces where students could thrive and teachers could teach with pride.
Governor Okpenholo said “When I declared a State of Emergency on public schools in Edo State on March 25th, 2025, after visiting Army Day Secondary School and a few other schools across the state, I meant every word. What I saw that day was unacceptable — children learning in dilapidated classrooms, unsafe environments, and schools abandoned by time. I promised immediate action, and today, the transformation speaks for itself”.
Army Day Secondary School in Ikpoba-Okha and Evbareke Secondary School in Egor local government areas of Edo State are testament of the action taken in the past one year as these schools and many others have gotten facelift by the Okpebholo led administration, the people of Edo State and the nation at large have seen changes in the education system which has now undergone and still undergoing physical transformations, renovations, reconstruction and revamping of school’s infrastructure across the State.
Following the determination of the governor to turn the narrative around, he launched a massive school rehabilitation programme targeting over 100 schools across the three Senatorial Districts of Edo State. In the last one year, the governor has successfully constructed, renovated and remodeled over 70 schools out of 100 targeted.
Infrastructure alone does not educate children, man power is another critical part of education. Recognising this, governor Okpebholo placed teacher’s welfare and recruitment at the centre of his education reforms. He absorbed over 5,000 Edo -STAR teachers who had served as contract staff for years. The governor converted them to permanent staff of the Edo State government, bringing long-awaited job security and regular income chase to an end. He also employed 500 teachers by BTVET, Senior Secondary Education Board (SSEB) and State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB).
Crisis facing Tertiary Institutions like Ambrose Alli University (AAU), Ekpoma, Edo State University Uzairue was not overlooked while paying critical attention to basic education in the State. AAU was grappling with challenges like underfunding, unpaid salaries, infrastructural decay, and student unrest. The administration responded decisively by increasing the Institution’s monthly subvention from ₦41 million to ₦500 million. Edo University’s subvention was also increased from ₦25 million to ₦250 million. This increasement was intended to enhance infrastructure, research capabilities, and staff development.
Before the Okpebholo led administration, 128 medical students were delayed for four years, 810 nursing graduates stalled for three years, and over 1,000 students affected by JAMB regularization issues since 2019, clearing their path to NYSC. The governor stepped in and resolved the issues of these students from AAU.
Edo State Government also collaborates with the Federal Government’s NELFund programme to ensure that students were no longer sent home due to unpaid fees, easing the burden on families and allowing students to focus on their studies rather than survival.
He also put smiles on the faces of Edo State students of indigenous origin in Tertiary Institutions across the nation. Student welfare received a boost with the reintroduction of bursary payments after a 20-year gap.
The governor approved a ₦1 billion annual bursary scheme for them. The scheme is designed as an annual programme to provide consistent financial relief to students and their families.
Students and lecturers from Edo State Polytechnic Usen are also captured in the transformational drive of the Okpebhole led administration as a 4.8KM Internal roads have been constructed and commissioned in the Institution. The governor assured the student community of renovating their hostel and donated two buses to ease transportation on campus.
The Governor has also facilitated the sponsorship of Seven lecturers and five students of the Institution to far away China for further studies and upgrading of their skills. He has also finalized plans to send students from this Institution on full scholarship to Turkey.
Lecturers of the Institution were being owned backlog of arrears since 2022 but Gov Okpebholo stepped in and ensured that all arrears are paid.
The policies, programmes and projects of governor Okpebhole stand out in the coherence of his education strategy. Infrastructure, teacher’s welfare, student access, Tertiary Institutions revitalisation, digital innovation, and cultural inclusion are not treated as isolated interventions but as interconnected components of a single vision, which is to build an education system that produces competent, confident, and competitive citizens.
The governor’s approach has been noticed by leaders, stakeholders in the education sector and international partners around the globe as they have commended Edo State’s progress under the leadership of governor Okpebholo.
Following his administration’s transformational drive in the education sector in the past one year, Governor Okpebholo was honoured by Telegraph Newspaper as best governor of the year in Education. The honour serves as both recognition and responsibility — recognition of achievements already recorded and responsibility to sustain and expand these gains.
The award is not based on promises or political rhetoric but on visible, measurable, and impactful transformation across the education sector — and on the clear alignment of these reforms with the SHINE Agenda.
The state’s Commissioner for Education has also received international recognition, reflecting the global resonance of the reforms underway and the credibility of Edo’s education transformation.
Education remains a top priority in the Five-Point Agenda of Okpebholo led administration because the future can’t be built while neglecting the foundation which is education.
