Governor Rochas Okorocha declares free education in Imo state | Welcome to Linda Ikeji's Blog

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Tuesday 14 February 2012

Governor Rochas Okorocha declares free education in Imo state

Governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, has declared free Education in Primary school, Secondary school and now Tertiary. Also students of Imo Origin studying in Imo State University will be entitled to a scholarship of N100,000.00 per annum. Polytechnics OND N60,000 and HND N80,000. All Primary schools students now get N25,000 per annum.

Impressive!

78 comments:

Anonymous said...

What's impressive about it? Free education is great, but when the educational institutions suck, then what does it matter? How about spending that money to upgrade the schools and then go from there.

Getting a full ride to a grade F school is getting a full ride to a grade F school...

Anonymous said...

This man is a beast!!! Well, av' been a huge huge fan of this man for decades. Not surprised at all. Am not from Imo state but Abia, however, GOD BLESS ROCHAS!!!

twitter: @awolam

Estee said...

Whoa!Sounds too good to be true, but knowing my governor, I am sure its not a fairy tale. Ride on Owelle, we are behind u-solidly!

Anonymous said...

If he can do dis... Den wow...

Just wow!

Pls tell dis fool mr peter obito go and learn what others are doing...

Anonymous said...

Forget about the nay sayers n the naive people. Change will come to Nigeria by crook or by force. Bravo Governor!!!

Anonymous said...

OWELLE HAS MADE US PROUD.AM NOT SURPRISED @ALL CUS IF U COME TO IMO STATE U WILL SEE THE KIND OF PROJECT HE IS EM BACKING ON.3 KPOSA KPOSA KPOSA 4 HIM RIDE ON PEOPLE'S GOVERNOR

Unknown said...

Sir, hope ur team has done d feasibility study on dis but wot abt improving d overall standard in dis schools also.
I am a fan of dis guy only bcos i av heard him speak in interviews and he sounds like he's got ideas & intent.
gazalazeez.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

Welldone Rochas.I dont regret standing in the rain to cast that decisive vote.Hope those concerned will pay the students the said money and not find a way to convert it to private funds.
Long live Imo state
Long live Owelle Rochas

Olohungbebe Ahmad said...

This act of his is an examplary, paradigm of individual and good ethics of an excellent trait.It's high time we left party's interest and go for individualism.Very soon,history will write his name with a golden pen.

Anonymous said...

ONOME says........................
Well i think a WELLDONE are in order.He has done a good thing so i must commend him.....

jennietobbie said...

Rochas...!!!You give me hope. Power corrupts only when one has NO values!!!! Gid bless u

kcee said...

I really want to know how he is going to pay for this. I wish he could enlighten us.

T.S. said...

Glad to hear this. This will definitely help the people of his state. I hope he is serious about it.


www.titisule.wordpress.com

Edson said...

This sounds too good. Can it be sustained? If so, then this man is awesome! Way to go?- ROCHAS!!!

TONY said...

HE DID IT WITHOUT GOVT MONEY, NOW WITH GOVT MONEY AM NOT SURPRISED AT WHAT HE COULD DO.

GOD BLESS U

Anonymous said...

I am one of the fans of The Owelle Rochas for a very long time. I love him very much because he has a heart for the less privileged. And that is why the good God keeps blessing him. The people are are confused, they don't know the secrets. The secret is just GIVING TO THE POOR!. That is why Rochas will achieve great feats that others Governors cannot do.
Sir, please go ahead, do not listen to critics. Your good deeds will stand a test of time. You are a blessing to humanity. I am greatly proud of you. You are my MENTOR!. I love you!!!
Ted Philips

Anonymous said...

Long live imolites and long live Rocha,,,i so much believe and hope that with Rocha imo state will become a kingdom every nation must come to stay,,,thanks,
from swiss

naijababe said...

Dear Governor Rochas,

My first question is, how will you pay for this free education? Through taxes? Through your personal wealth? Through the embezzled money by the government? Through what?
For example, there's free public school till high school in America. It's paid for through taxes.

Another question is, the education system in Nigeria is lacking behind, how will quality education be implemented in a free education system? Or is it just going to be another excuse since it's free education, these students are taught without proper school equipments, they should be lucky that the school is free, so who cares if they have teachers or the classrooms has broken windows and doors.

Last question, can you lay it out how much Imo state receives from the government every year, and how this plan will be executed?

Thank you, and God bless.

Paschal Ohale said...

when the whole money is channeled to education, i hope other sectors would be founded as well.........

Chinny said...

My governor, your good works shall never go unnoticed both by heaven and earth. You are worthy of emulation. You did likely things when you were not a governor, so I'm not surprise. I still remember the tears you shaded on your swearing-in, that seemed to be saying, "I shall not disappoint these people..." Ride on, the people's governor.

Make money online free said...

This is going to be good news to all imo state students, this will also make imo state students serious! Wish all the others will emulate him! make money online free selling other people's products.

Waec timetable 2012 said...

This is the best news i have heard today. I love his government

The Great Oracle said...

@Anon 6:03pm. How come you call a man "a beast" then proceed to call him a fan & God blessing him? Abi u mean to say "This man is the best"?

U confused me! Obviously an Ibo man. No let Gbenga catch you o!

Adebola said...

Very Impressive. God bless the Governor

Anonymous said...

I A̶̲̥̅♏ not surprised at all based on his antecedent even before mounting a public office. This man Rochas has a good heart and a lover of d grass-root people. It ÄÆ̸̸̨§ something he has bin doing with his money over †Ń’Ī¾ years and i believe it will be implement †Ę ̴̴͡ †Ń’Ī¾ letter in his tenure but not too certain of d continuity after he might ve left dat office. And for those saying he shud be concern with improving d institutions, he said ʧ̷̜̩̌̋o many projects hs bin approved by him †Ę ̴̴͡ tk care of †Ń’Ī¾ infrastructures & staffs. Ē¦Ć˜D̶̲̥̅̊ will bless U̶̲̥̅̊ for us. Tinubu & Fashola pls tk note.... N̶̲̥̅̊Ī± person like una be dat...
Olusegun

Anonymous said...

thanks @th first anonymous..makes so much sense...but appreciate the little step he has taken cos not much have done that...

Anonymous said...

Another 419 Ibotic governor looking for ways to steal money. Why do Ibo leaders love to steal from their people?
---Gbenga

Anonymous said...

God bless his kind heart for that! good job!

Anonymous said...

whatever you do, people will talk. first anon, u get wahala

babeontop said...

@Annonymous @ 5:59pm...did I hear you say "What's impressive about it?" You are a moron! Do congratulate and for once, stop hating...What then would you say about the Lagos governor that increased university school fees to thousands of naira?? People like you never get any good come your way because of your pessimistic evil nature...mtchew. Answer me rudely and thunder will strike your entire generation....mumu

Ofilispeaks.com said...

wow...looks like someone actually gets it!

Anonymous said...

atleast its step forward sir,d guy has done well.

Anonymous said...

Why cnt he channel d suposed funds into upgrading d skools in d state. Dt wld b beta and sustainable cos in d event of govt chnge dis cld b scrappd
@Sir_Fin

Anonymous said...

unfortunately i wont start applauding until i see that th system works...what is in place to check and balnce it? before u know it...there will be too many 'GHOST' students and the money will be diverted....how do one show its eligibilty? is there a Imo state ID card?...am sure all these factors and possible challenges have not been addressed...time will tell

Anonymous said...

make God punish the first person that commented on this post.Appreciate something for once.Gov. Rochas is the best joor.

Anonymous said...

this guy has done what nobody in nigeria will even do in the next 100 yrs.......he wants to make imo state to be the united states....imagine if this guys is made the president....


anybody who is not happy for this is a fool........so u prefer him to steal all the money and yet you can do nothing.....some people are just idiots....

as an oil nation is this not what nigeria supposed to do for its own people.......

for me he has joined the likes of nelson mandela....and he is probably the greatest nigerian that is alive at the moment

Anonymous said...

He is really a good man....i'm speaking personally, and seeing what he does for others. He came from having little and made it totally on his own. I love most that he puts God first...every 3pm he puts everything on hold and goes to pray at the chapel.

God bless him!...and i pray he doesn't change.

Anonymous said...

For the skeptics wondering how he will fund the project....do ur research on the guy; he built two FREE international standard schools (one in Jos and another in Imo) for intelligent less privileged kids way before he got into politics. The guy has a huge heart, and anyone who knows him personally will tell u. And pls be aware that there is moooore than enough money available in government to foot the project. If other governors take the same initiative, i promise u that it won't hurt the state's fund atall...but their greed wont let them even give a damn!

Hopefully, this will be a domino effect for other governors and the federal government.

For those sayn it would've been better to better the school system first; was Rome built in a day?! And how do u know he is not already bettering it? Be grateful first that change is coming to the country instead of being so damn pessimistic! Tufiakwa!

GlamNotchApparels said...

Rochas is the man! i'm really impressed.

Anonymous said...

no offense...but such a dumb move, you don't give people fish, you teach them how to get fish...a word is enough for the wise!

webround said...

I do not wish to pour sand on someone's garri but my question is - how is this going to be paid for? We're not just talking about free primary school education but also free secondary and tertiary education. Does tertiary education include university?

Is he planning on increasing taxes? How much is Imo State's internally generated revenue? These are the questions people should ask first before clapping for him and saying he's doing something impressive.

Chimezie Njoku said...

Go Rochas; What I just came back from Naija. What I hear everywhere in Imo is that Rochas is using all them allowance money he received plus more to foot the bill. He said that there're more than enough money to rebuild Imo State. I also hear that he is ready to fire any teacher who is not doing his or her work well or showing up to work. He wanted to replace professors at Imo State Uni when they were on strike. My fellow Imos, change is coming. Is coming big. Once he works out things with university profs. If they mess up, they will be fired and replaced.

Mee said...

Linda, please correctly inform us about this. You can begin by saying what the fund will be used for and how the system will work.

He has made schools autonomous, that means that the money given to students will be used to pay their fees at the respective schools and the school administration will manage the fund.

I am not from Imo state, and I wish Mr Peter Obi would a cue, instead jumping around the world.

OnileEre! said...

I hope he will be able to sustain it. Free education is good but where are the jobs after school? I wish our govt can look more in the direction of creating jobs rather than egalitarian projects. That's why we've sophisticated criminals these days,people are graduating but with no jobs so the knowledge is being channelled into crime.
I'm not hating on him,what he did is praiseworthy but more effort should be put into job creation.

babeontop said...

U r stupid.

Anonymous said...

kudos mr governor.....pls also upgrade d educatnal facilities in d state.
thank you.

Anonymous said...

My only question is how will he fund it? His personal money,state allocation? Juz hope dis is not RUBBING PETER TO PAY PAUL. Nothing is dat easy here, I m juz saying not hating.

Anonymous said...

May d God of heaven and earth bless u beyond ur dreams keep u sustain u in Jesus Name Amen.There're still so much to do to improve d standard of education hope u achieve all that and more.

Nwosu Charles said...

Am feeling just jealous n i wish Anambra state gov Obi would emulate this good news and do same to its citizens...but all d same,i think the gov(Rochas)has a hidden plan.

Anonymous said...

Na better Governor be that, welldone sir, God bless you.

Anonymous said...

U are a big fool becos ur governor did not do for u people dats why u are jealous.

Sir Law said...

i wish Abia is in Imo state. Let those monsters in Abia learn what is leadership from Owelle. in short Imo state government make a space for me there, I am coming with my family to Imo state for a fresh breathe

the white enchantress said...

abia state aborigine(borrowed English from Mr Patrick O) here and am not surprised Rochas is doing this though its coming late. he has been doing this in Kano state since God knows when. a lot of schools in sabon gari are under his financial coverage and YES they give good quality educations and not to mention those who have passed out from sec school are entitled to certain amount every month when they get admitted into the university. your admission has to be authenticated for all this to happen. no cutting corners.

for those asking whats the use of the education when there are no jobs? he will create jobs in IMO state and soon IMO state aborigine wont need to leave the comfort of their states to go job hunting in Lagos or Abuja.

at least he didn't need to get into that seat to do all dis which shows he neva needed d oil money that is causing heart attack for others. he has been doing it. i wish my dearest Theodore Orji will take a cue from him Rochas instead of dragging oil money with people from poverty stricken backgrounds who call themselves our leaders.

P.S. could oga BRF reduce his glorification of Lagos with gardens and put up street lights and take control of LAWMA n LASMA because this two areas are really a sorry sight to behold in a city that is trying to compete with NYC,Dubai,Paris ET AL. i don't know which is more embarrassing... the dirt or the sorry sight of the LASMA officials.....you are doing well oga BRF but you need to do a little more bc we love you the more........ woooow what a letter!

Anonymous said...

Hehehe, now I know dat some Nigerians are saddist, how can u complain or even ask negative question about a man who has come out open minded to help his people? All those asking foolish questions, unua well so? If dem no work, complain, if dem work, complain, what is really going on in this country? How can u even complain over a governor as great and intelligent as this? Do u knw how many intelligent children dat stay at home bcos dey can't afford school fees? God will bless u abundantly Rochas Okorocha and we pray he brings the likes of u to delta state.

Anonymous said...

I think some commentators are getting the whole thing wrong. He said that he found out that corruption in the eduction system comes from too much duplication of offices like LG and State education boards. He therefore decided to give principals the powers to have full control of their schools. A student collects the money from government through their traditional ruler, pays his/her school fees and then the principal pays the salaries of the teachers from the fees and also maintains the school from it. What it means is that principals will run schools like private schools and be held responsible for non performance.He said that any traditional ruler or principal that is found to have engaged in corrupt acts faces prosecution and dethronement/sacking. Even though this will definitely be a difficult task, I think we need to be positive about it. One thing I know for sure is that having built a name that has come to be associated with good things, Rochas would not want to trade all just for personal riches!

Proudly Igbo said...

I thought you people said Gbenga was dead. How come he's still making ignorant comments?

Mine said...

I love you my Governor.........Muahhhhh

Anonymous said...

@anonymous 7.40pm. Teach a man 2 fish,u say.Fine....but dont u see that u can boost his learning buy providing him with free fishing aids and a boat?

Oj said...

What re insinuating. He is teaching them how to...by free education en scholarship. People

Kayem said...

Rochas is a man of his words, a quality our leaders need to imbibe... He promised free education for all Imo citizens. That promise is being fulfilled. First was the N100 stipend for primary and secondary school children, now this. These are two steps in the right direction... If he's done this much already, I believe he'd do more. Kudos, Gov. Rochas.

Anonymous said...

What is Rochas trying to prove? That there is too much money in Imo State or that the standards are already high? How about upgrading the quality of our schools, or even creating jobs. How sustainable is this venture? Na questions I dey ask oooooo

Chikaka said...

Anon February 15, 2012 12:24 PM; thank you. He's cutting out the middlemen who sit on these funds and using the funds directly for schools.

ILoveFree said...

In as much as i love this free education initiative, i have to be real and ask these questions:

1. How is he going to pay for this? Fine, he's built 2 international standard schools with his own money but hey, we're talking for the entire state here. Do you have any idea how much this is going to cost? We're talking billions every month, was it included in the state budget for this year? Even government money cannot fund this except they wanna spend it all on free education and all other areas suffer.

2. Whats the point in giving education free when the standard is pretty low? Why not educate and motivate the teachers, equip science and computer labs etc first... Why give something free if its gonna be useless to the recipient?

Imo state pple on this blog, i'm happy for you.... seriously but God will not come down and pay for this, money will not come out of a rock to fund this either. It has to come from somewhere and thats a fact.

Lets wait and see, maybe he plans to introduce some tax levies which would make some sense.

Free education is great and i hope one day, every child in Nigeria will have access to free QUALITATIVE education.

Anonymous said...

Cut Owelle some slack,even though I am from Imo, this guy is trying to change the face of politics and you guys are being skeptical.If you guys are so pessimistic.I suggest that you guys remain in the ROT of corruption.Embrace change for once.Can Jonathan in his next generation do this?

Anonymous said...

long expected from a man like gov Rochas@ anon 5:59pm if u havent followed his history records then keep quiet, u know d worth of man even from d little he has been doin even be4 he became a GOVERNOR. God bless u Rochas okorocha n may u continue to do more

Anonymous said...

Every1 against dis man shud shut d fuck up. Dis man started building imo state even outta his own pockets. Did he tell u he has problems getting funds 2 finance dis project,Noooo. He understands dat imo state comprises mainly of villages n children trek 4 miles 2 go 2 school so education becomes a necessity in public schools cos of poverty. As 4 those asking where d money will come from didn't go 2 school so they've neva heard of revenue allocation. Imo is an oil producing state so they shud enjoy d perks of oil

Anonymous said...

Its spelt 'robbing' idiot

Anonymous said...

Do u guys realise dat imo state presented d best budget ever so far in Nigeria.In d budget,only 17% of d total funds of d state is gonna be used for recurrent xpenditure.
A whooping 83% is for capital xpenditure (prioritising education nd infrastructural development.)
IMO IS ON D RIGHT TRACK!

KULUMBU said...

since inception of this recent democracy in Nigeria, this is the only news that amazed my soul, i feel like weeping, it is so marvelous in my eyes. i wonder why some asked how is he gonna fund this, please be aware that we have sufficient money to implement such great jobs if only we choose to manage well and reduce or stop cprruption.

Anonymous said...

FALSE!!! Rochas is drinking garri with all of una mind. Only those in the system understand the politics he is playing. #YIMU

Anonymous said...

jealous???frm my comment nd urs who's actually sounding jealous?i guess u can only write but dnt undrstand english sir.jeez

Anonymous said...

For those asking "how wil He fund dis project?" Gov. Rochas answered thus "I can only answer dat Question, If only U can explain how Virgin Mary conceived Jesus". LONG Live RoCHas! LONG LIVE ImOLiTes!!

Anonymous said...

thank you. Pls include good roads , water and 24 hour electricity. i hope i did not ask for too much. Thanks

Anonymous said...

governor anyi,You are one in a million,God bless you sir

Anonymous said...

Some pple ar fool why are they complaining over what they did't no i am talking about the idiotic commentetors, do u no dat 1bnaira cn be use 2 feed d whole of nigeria taiking about only students of imo indigens, u bad eggs should mind una tongues b4 God strik u enemies of progress 2 dead. Or u tink he is dis idiot dat calls him self TA ORJI. My governor continue wit ur good plan God dey ur side.

Anonymous said...

Do this successfully and you have my vote for Presidency when the time comes....

All the best Governor

Anonymous said...

Y cn't Peter Obi emulate hz fellow APGA Governor.. APGA hz produced d best gov.(Rochas) & d worst gov.(Obi) in Naija.. Kudos 2 Rochas & Shame 2 Obi.

Anonymous said...

I don't know why people always comment on irrelevant things. A Gov. that has not implemented his free primary and secondary school edu. 100% is talking about free tertiary and all of you are clapping. I personally paid to register my House help in Primary school and my neighbour paid to register his cousin in secondary school. Ask your self why must this promise come few days to the supreme court judgement. Before the judgement of the tribunal, there were thousands of graders and caterpillars in Imo, but now most of those roads have been abandoned. Dick tiger road is an example. Ministries have been made autonomous there by making petty business men/women in Owerri to pay thru their nose. If the Government wants to offer free edu. up to Uni level, it can do it, but this guy is playing politics with Imo people and they have refused to see cos of the massive love they have for him. Remember that lecturers are on strike in Imsu cos Govt. cant pay and you want me to believe that u can offer free edu. together with scholarship. Listening to the speech, the Gov. sounds funny. A student needs to pay back 40% of scholarship when working. How would you know he got a job? If he travels out how would you recover the fund. I dont think the Govt. thought about this speech before the address. This speech was just another political campaign cos of fear of the supreme court judgement. Well the University has been made autonomous and students go to school free, so i wonder how the uni. can make money.

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