Ekiti State Government strengthens education funding and boosts commerce with strategic infrastructure projects.
The Ekiti State Government has approved a total of ₦1,179,235,500.00 as running grants for primary, secondary, technical, and special schools for the 2024/2025 academic session.
In addition to this significant educational investment, Governor Biodun Oyebanji recently commissioned an ultra-modern building materials market aimed at enhancing trade and centralizing access to building supplies, marking a major milestone in Ekiti state economic and infrastructure development drive.
Disclosing this during a press briefing in Ado Ekiti State, the Commissioner for Information, Mr. Taiwo Olatunbosun, highlighted that over ₦11.3 billion was expended on renovating and constructing facilities across the state’s 203 public secondary schools under the World Bank-supported AGILE project.
Ekiti State, Further breakdown shows that ₦6.1 billion was remitted as counterpart funding to the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) for projects in 927 public primary schools between 2022 and 2024. Other allocations include over ₦16 million for assessment documents and ₦174 million for instructional materials in primary schools.
Olatunbosun detailed that since Governor Oyebanji’s administration began, public secondary schools received ₦214 million in 2022/2023, ₦235 million in 2023/2024, and ₦602 million for the current session. Primary schools benefited from ₦101 million, ₦109 million, and ₦381 million over the same periods respectively. Technical colleges were allocated ₦6.7 million, ₦5.9 million, and ₦10.7 million in the three sessions.
Moreover, the state’s three special schools receive ₦15.4 million monthly for feeding and maintenance, with facility upgrades and professional therapists including physiotherapists, occupational therapists, and speech-language experts providing specialized care for students with disabilities.
Olatunbosun listed additional government interventions such as the renovation of 1,135 classrooms, construction of 83 new classrooms, provision of 419 toilets, drilling and rehabilitation of boreholes, equipping 18 libraries, upgrading 105 science labs, 67 multipurpose halls, and constructing perimeter fencing for 46 schools. Notably, 2,978 units of furniture and learning materials were also distributed.
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He called on community stakeholders to support and protect public facilities to sustain these investments, stressing the importance of a collaborative effort in achieving inclusive, qualitative education across the state.
On the commercial front, the newly commissioned building materials market is a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) between the government’s investment arm, Fountain Holdings Limited, and New Frontier Development Limited. The modern market features 191 lock-up shops, a security post, cafeteria, clinic, parking facilities, and a warehouse.
At the inauguration, Governor Oyebanji described the project as a strategic move to consolidate scattered building material vendors, promote ease of doing business, create jobs, and boost the state’s internally generated revenue.
He praised the timely delivery of the project and urged traders to maintain the facility, adhere to environmental standards, and contribute to making the market a model for others.
Mr. Adetunji Tolani, CEO of Fountain Holdings, hailed the market as a successful demonstration of effective public-private collaboration, while Salma Muhamed, Executive Director of New Frontier Development Limited, commended the project as a benchmark for infrastructure-driven economic growth in the state.
