By Olufemi Oni, Ilorin
Following Kwara State Government’s directive for the deployment of buses in Public Tertiary Institutions to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy removal on the staff and students, the Ministry of Tertiary Education has met with stakeholders to work out modalities on the free transport palliatives.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Hajiya Habibat Salman Saidu, disclosed this at an interactive session with the stakeholders in Ilorin, the state capital, to map out the strategies to be adopted on Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq’s directive.
The meeting had in attendance the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Special duties, Mallam AbdulRazaq Jidda, Deans of Students Affairs of all Public Tertiary Institutions in the State, representatives of Students’ Unions across the Tertiary Institutions, and representatives of the Kwara State Chapter of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS).
The Permanent Secretary, who reechoed the goodwill of Governor AbdulRazaq’s administration to the student community and Kwarans at large, charged all stakeholders in various sectors to continue to support the administration by complementing its efforts.
According to her, the interactive session was meant to embrace suggestions on how best to allocate the buses to strategic routes within the metropolis in order to achieve the desired goal.
Hajiya Saidu reiterated that the transportation palliative for staff and students of tertiary institutions is free of charge, pointing out that on no account would extortions be entertained, adding that both staff and students would be allowed to benefit from the free bus ride with their institutions’ identification cards as means of identification.
In his remarks at the flag off and commencement of the free bus palliative on Wednesday, the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Special duties, Mallam AbdulRazaq Jidda, urged the students to reciprocate the state government’s gesture by conducting themselves in an orderly manner to sustain the free transportation palliative.
He added that the ‘Isenlo’ (work is ongoing) bus terminal at post office has been apportioned as the pick-up points to all the institutions across the State, at 7am every working day.
Jidda disclosed further that more palliative measures to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy removal are underway by the State Government.
Speaking on behalf of the students body, the Chairman of the state chapter of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Comrade Yusuf AbdulGafar, lauded the giant strides of Governor AbdulRazaq for providing them with the succour.
AbdulGafar, who hailed the state government’s initiative, suggested that some buses should also be stationed at institutions in the rural areas in order to convey students in rural communities.