Hon. Wemi Jones, FCIB is a multi-talented, multi-disciplinary professional banker, and a financial service expert with more than two decades of corporate and high-valued entrepreneurship experience. A Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria and an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers, Wemi Jones held command and managerial positions in strings of old generation banks, as well as having directorship oversights on successful profit-yielding private enterprises before venturing into active partisan politics and election contesting.
His political activities earned him positions as the Commissioner for Education in two consecutive administrations: that of His Excellency Governor Yahaya Bello, CON, and the cabinet of His Excellency Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo, FCA.
Under the stewardship of Hon. Wemi Jones, the Ministry of Education has witnessed progressive turn around with basic contextual changes and strong innovative landscapes at Basic, Post Basic, and Tertiary Education.
Hon Wemi was able to facilitate the establishment of a very strong management and human resource team that superintend and oversee the entire Kogi State ivy educational institutions’ Governing Councils which are:
a. Prince AbubakarAudu University, Anyigba,
b. Confluence University of Science and Technology. Osara,
c. Kogi State University, Kabba,
d. Kogi State Polytechnic, Lokoja,
e. Kogi State College of Education Ankpa,
f. Kogi State College of Education (Technical) Mopa,
g. Kogi State College of Nursing and Midwifery, Obangede,
h. Nigeria-Korea Friendship Institute, Lokoja,
i. Kogi State College of Health Sciences and Technology, Idah,
j. State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB),
k. Kogi State Senior Secondary Education Board (KGSSEB),
l. State Agency for Adult and Non-Formal Education (AANFE),
m. Kogi State Library Board, and
n. the State Scholarship Board.
Hon.Wemi’s entrepreneurship and managerial skills, not limited to banking, financial and corporate worlds alone found synergism in the New Direction Administration of His Excellency Governor Yahaya Bello (CON) and that of His Excellency Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo, the Chief Servant of the State, resulting in landmark achievements.
ACHIEVEMENTS
BASIC EDUCATION
1. Ban on graduation ceremonies in Nursery, primary and Secondary schools in Kogi State.
2. Ban on the use of textbooks as workbooks.
3. Kogi State was rated the best in terms of SUBEB projects and programme execution by various visiting agencies in recent times when compared to previous administrations.
4. Bio-data capturing of learners. The Ministry now has reliable and credible data repository for all public and private schools in the State.
SECONDARY EDUCATION
1. Kogi State recording progressive success in the West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) and other eternal examinations.
2. Under Kogi State Adolescent Girls Initiative Learning Empowerment (AGILE) Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT), to 13,359 adolescent girls.
3. Refocused and repositioned the State education system towards Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) education.
4. Introduction of school farming and Young Farmers Clubs in selected schools.
5. The Introduction of E-Learning – teaching and learning by Radio tagged “Radio Teacher” to students to prevent gaps in the curriculum coverage during the Covid-19 nation-wide lock down. Radio coverage ensured learners in remote areas were able to access instructional delivery.
6. The Students Exchange Programme (SEP) involving five States namely Benue, Kwara, Niger, Kaduna, Nasarawa with Kogi State, anchored by the Ministry, is running hitch- free.
TERTIARY EDUCATION
1. Establishment of Confluence University of Science and Technology (CUSTECH), Osara, in 2020. The institution aims at producing graduates in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) that will meet the technological needs of the State with her huge mineral deposit. Currently, the institution runs 30 programmes in STEM Education.
2. Establishment of Kogi State University, Kabba in 2023, thus making it the second State-owned University established under the pragmatic leadership of Wemi.
3. Payment of bursary N30,000 each to students of Kogi State Tertiary institutions across the country and the payment of N300,000 each to Kogi State students in the Nigerian Law School.
4. Cultism has been successfully crushed and outlawed in Kogi State institutions from basic to Tertiary Education levels thus, making all Institutions safe for both students and staff. The era of cultism, drug abuse and hooliganism are gone.
5. Full accreditation of all courses at all State-owned Tertiary Education Institutions for quality assurance.
6. All State-owned Tertiary Educational Institutions enjoy uninterrupted academic calendar since 2016 to date.
POLICY FORMULATION AND IMPLEMENTATION
1. The enactment of Kogi State Education Law 2020 and other Matters. The first of its kind in the history of the State since its creation in 1991, making Kogi State about the first and only State in Northern Nigeria that has a fully enacted Education Law.
2. Kogi State has been onboard as a beneficiary of the World Bank assisted Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) programme after the Ministry of Education met the stipulated criteria.
3. The Ministry under the capable leadership of Hon Wemi Jones, developed State Education Strategic Plan (SESP) (2021-2030) and State Education Operational Plan (SESOP).
4. Introduction of School Adoption and Mentorship Programme, an initiation of the Ministry to encourage mentorship for learners and the restoration of the lost glory of education. This initiative has been highly patronized by well-meaning individuals and corporate bodies.
5. Drafting of the Gender in Education Policy and Its Implementing Guidelines 2025 – 2035. Thus, successfully developing a blueprint for action on Gender in Education for the sector in Kogi State. Modification of School Academic Calendar during the Covod-19 pandemic that ensured minimal loss of academic activities. Kogi State thus set the pace and States adjusting their schools calendars after Kogi State’s model.
6. Free Education policy for public school learners from Basic to Post Basic education levels with the payment of all internal and external examination fees such as WAEC/NABTEB, JAMB, BECE, FSLC/CEE.
7. The domestication of the implementation of the new retirement age and length of service year for teaching profession to encourage more experienced teachers in the teaching profession.
8. The education data bank of the Ministry has been strengthened and invigorated with the introduction of the use of technology in data gathering via the use of tablets PC by Enumerators and direct uploading of data to the Nigeria Education Management Information System portal.
9. Kogi State actively participated in the activities of Human Capital Development in Nigeria (HCD), with thematic focus on Education, Health and Nutrition and Labour force. As the State Focal Person for HCD in Kogi State ( 2021 – 2023), Hon Wemi Jones led the Kogi HCD Team to Nasarawa State for the Regional Conference held from 4th – 5th May, 2023 in Lafia, Nasarawa State. States in the region were encouraged to emulate Kogi State School Adoption and Mentorship Programme.
Epilogue
Community service, humanitarian gestures and philanthropic activities have earned Hon. Wemi Jones an array of honors, awards, medals and distinctions, including being entrusted with high-profile, value-adding positions in boards of CSOs across many States, especially in Kogi, Lagos and Osun.
