SUBEB chairman pledges to strengthen EdoSTAR Fellowship
Edo State Government has continued to boost the capacity of procurement officers in the state, the Managing Director of Edo State Public Procurement Agency (EDPPA), Henry Idogun, has said, noting that 18 Nigerian states have understudied the state’s e-procurement model.
Idogun disclosed this during the training of procurement officers from the state-owned Ambrose Alli University (AAU) in Benin City.
He said over 18 states across the country visited the state to understudy EDPPA’s system.
“We have also engaged delegates from Liberia, who also understudied EDPPA. Our engagement with delegates from Liberia was done virtually and they contacted us for a peer review project. They heard what we are doing and they wanted to emulate some of the things we have implemented,” he said.
The managing director said development could only be achieved when proper procurement processes are practised, saying: “Edo State has been trying to deepen procurement reforms so that we can get our capital expenditure right because that is the only way we can grow and develop as a state.
“We are always ready to share knowledge with people so that we learn from them; they can learn from us as well. We are better for it. AAU is a part the state and they want to come, see and share knowledge so that when they get back to their school, they can conduct procurement in the most efficient way.
“It is not really about training them but this is a knowledge-sharing exercise. They are in academia and are always reading and studying and know a lot, while we are in public procurement practice. We will learn from them and they will learn from us and when they go back, they will not have any doubts on what to do when they want to conduct a procurement.”
The Acting Director, AAU Directorate of Procurement, Samuel Abu, said: “We are here to undergo a training on procurement processes as regards the technical aspects. We also need to learn how to digitise the procurement process.”
MEANWHILE, the Executive Chairman of Edo State Universal Basic Education Board (Edo SUBEB), Mrs. Ozavize E. Salami, has pledged commitment to sustaining and strengthening EdoSTAR Fellowship Programme, initiated by Governor Godwin Obaseki.
Salami made the disclosure at a special event organised by Edo State Ministry of Education, in collaboration with Edo SUBEB, to mark World Teachers’ Day in Benin City.
EdoSTAR Fellowship programme is a three-year intensive training and field experience programme for teachers and aspiring teachers, who will be integrated into Edo State Civil Service after successful completion of the programme.
“The EdoSTAR Fellowship programme will continue to develop. We now have EdoSTAR fellows in our junior secondary schools and we will overcome the initial teething problems we are encountering, to eventually provide the required personnel and manpower that is community-based to enable sustained quality teaching and learning across all schools and communities in Edo State,” Salami said.
Over 3,000 EdoSTAR teachers were recruited by the Edo State government in the first phase of the programme to fill teacher-gaps in primary and junior secondary schools.
