Vice President Kashim Shettima has said posterity will judge the North-East Development Commission (NEDC) fairly for going beyond infrastructure development to investing in education and green technology through the Accelerated Senior Secondary Education Programme (ASSEP).
He described ASSEP as the actual game changer in the age and time, pointing out that education is the greatest leveller through which even a son of a peasant could become a celebrated icon.
Shettima spoke on Thursday during a meeting with the management team of the NEDC, who came to brief him on the level of work on the ASSEP project at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He said, “I want to commend the management of NEDC, the ministry, and, of course, Dr. Masha for doing an awesome job and promoting ASSEP.
“There are two things that the North East Development Commission is committed to that posterity will judge them kindly.
“Yes, intervention in infrastructure is good, but this ASSEP and the likely investments in green technology will fully change the landscape.”
The Vice President applauded the generative platforms introduced by ASSEP, like the Virtual Reality (VR) headsets, saying they are going along in “revolutionising the learning experience, offering numerous benefits for students, educators and institutions because of enhanced engagement and motivation.”
He said: “We can truly leapfrog into the industrial age. From 100 teachers, we’re able to reach 600 hundred teachers in 71 institutions.
“I think of all the areas of intervention by the NEDC; none titillates my imagination, none captivates the spirit of the times greater than this ASSEP.
‘It is truly a game changer because, in other parts of the world, they are investing in digital educational tools because of the numerous benefits they offer.
“From improved knowledge retention to personalised learning to increased accessibility, VR headset enables students to engage in remote learning.
Shettima implored the NEDC, the Federal Ministry of Regional Development and other relevant stakeholders to collaborate among themselves to ensure efficiency.
His words: “And of course, there is the possibility of enhanced collaboration among all the relevant stakeholders, improved assessment and evaluation, and of course lastly, they imbue the students with soft skills for future careers in technology, in healthcare and engineering.
“I want to thank you. You may be buffeted with a lot of criticisms; uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.
“It (NEDC) is one of the most buoyant organisations in the country, and people expect the NEDC to be like drunken sailors on a spending spree, but the MD is a very difficult man.
“In the Nigerian context, when you are described as a difficult man, it means you are a stickler to rules and regulations.
“The minister is a very humble man; he is not an overbearing person, and I have seen the rapport between them. I will urge you to work as a team.”
Noting that by investing in education, NEDC is writing its name in gold, the VP further urged the commission and the ministry to maintain the tempo in driving the ASSEP to wriggle the North East from poverty.
He stated: “The base of poverty in Nigeria is found in the North. And if the North East of Nigeria were to be treated as a country, we would be poorer than Chad; we are poorer than Niger.
“The North East of Nigeria is poorer than Afghanistan. It’s one of the poorest places on earth.
“The World Bank described the North East of Nigeria, the Republic of Chad, the Darfur region of Sudan, the Republic of Niger and Northern Cameroon as some of the poorest places on earth, hence the emergence of militant organisations like the Janjaweed militia and Boko Haram.”
In his remarks, the Minister of State for Regional Development, Alhaji Uba Maigari Ahmadu, said ASSEP is an initiative aimed at enhancing secondary education across the region, which aligns with the administration’s broader agenda to improve learning standards nationwide.
He said: “It is a cardinal objective of this administration, led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to focus on capacity building, scholarships for indigent students, and the upgrading of essential education infrastructure and ICT tools. This is why we are here today—to kickstart this crucial segment of ASSEP.”
On his part, the Managing Director of NEDC, Alhaji Mohammed Alkali, highlighted the commission’s intervention in the educational sector with a specific focus on human capital development across the region.
He said the NEDC has commenced the process of reviving teacher training/education in the region and has established a unit within the commission to handle training and capacity building across the educational ecosystem.
The NEDC boss said, “We reviewed and harmonised the training modules that we have in the northeast.
“We have already engaged a consultant to start the training of teachers. Most importantly, we have already signed an MOU with the National Teachers Institute in Kaduna.
“In addition, we have established teachers’ training centres across the northeast so that the training will be a continuous process.
“As of today, we have already established the mega schools in the northeast – one per senatorial district. We have also established 18 ICT training centres; we have built halls, laboratories and other facilities across the northeast.”
Highpoint of the meeting was the presentation of the VR headsets to the Vice President by the NEDC MD and the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Regional Development Programmes (Office of the Vice President), Dr Mariam Masha.
