The Executive Secretary and the Chief Executive Officer (ES/CEO) of the Commission, Dr. Hamid Bobboyi was on Friday described as a rare gift to the country for his activities at the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) adjudged to be progressive and forward-looking and which had earned him the sobriquet-‘Father of Basic Education in Nigeria’.
The description was given by the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Sen. Lekan Balogun, Alli Okunmade II during the visit of the UBEC boss and members of his management team to the Olubadan at his Alarere residence. In attendance to receive the team with Olubadan were three of his members of the Advisory Council, High Chiefs Lateef Gbadamosi Adebimpe (Osi Balogun), Biodun Kola-Daisi (Ashipa Olubadan) and Hamidu Ajibade (Ekerin Olubadan).
Also in attendance was the Senator representing Oyo South Senatorial District in the National Assembly, who incidentally is a member of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, Senator Kola Balogun as well as Mogaji Ogbaga and the Deputy Executive Secretary of the Commission, Dr. Isiaka Kolawole.
Oba Balogun, who spoke through High Chief Adebimpe, according to a press statement made available to journalists by the Olubadan’s Personal Assistant (Media), Oladele Ogunsola said Nigeria was lucky to have Dr. Bobboyi as the helmsman at UBEC. He described the UBEC boss “as embodiment of grace, goodwill and good leadership for promoting education from the grassroots.
“Whoever has had interaction with you would attest to the fact that you have very effective and efficient management team. Nigeria is very lucky to have you at the helm of affairs. The South-West Zonal Headquarters of the Commission that was commissioned earlier today was another testimony of your good works and for which Olubadan and the people of Ibadanland were extremely delighted”, the monarch added.
In his brief remark, Dr. Bobboyi thanked His Imperial Majesty and his Council members for granting him the opportunity of visiting the palace, noting that the job at the Commission “is very crucial and strategic, considering the importance of basic education to the growth and development of the country. We must all note that the neglect of basic education by any country is an expression of lack of concern for the future of such country.
“The developed countries have for a long time realized this and gave priority to basic education. They ensure that they train their teachers and pay them well. In fact, some of them pay teachers better than other professionals. Historically traditional rulers are always in the forefront of campaign for enrolment of children in schools and this noble role will always be noted and acknowledged”, the UBEC boss said further.
Bobboyi said the sighting of the South-West Zonal Headquarters of the Commission in Ibadan was to re-establish the Oyo State capital as the education capital of the West in addition to its being the political capital. He noted that no other place could rival the importance of Ibadan and Yoruba in the history of education in Nigeria and this was part of what the Commission tried to project by the Zonal Headquarters being built in Ibadan.
He urged the people of South-West not to rest on their oars as far as access to education is concerned, stressing that, “as much as out of school children cannot be a phenomenon attached to the South-West, it is imperative that the bar must be raised. Our parents should not be contended with their children going to school alone, they should be very much interested in what they are doing in the school they attend.
“We must make efforts to raise the bar, there must be quest for higher standard. We must not take for granted effective and excellent learning. The Commission is conscious of its mandate and we established a Smart School in Ibadan to leverage on digital platform. We want our public schools to be modernized and properly equipped to serve well those children from the less privileged homes and make them to be at par with their counterparts that attend private schools”, the UBEC boss noted further.
Earlier in his welcome address, Sen. Kola Balogun attested to the diligence with which the UBEC boss goes about the job of giving basic education to Nigerians, leveraging on his interaction with the boss and his team as a member of the Senate Committee overseeing the Commission and asserted that “the Commission is doing a wonderful job for Nigeria”.
The Oyo South Senator, who re-echoed education as the foundation of development disclosed that the Commission under the present management led by Dr. Bobboyi “has reduced the level of illiteracy among the adults through adult education, improved education infrastructure in schools under the Commission across the country and more importantly, the UBEC boss is committed to the overall development of Nigeria”.
With the plan to host the expanded management meeting of the Commission in Ibadan, the UBEC boss was accompanied on the visit to the Olubadan by all the Zonal Directors of the Commission across the country, the Directors and other critical and top management staff.
