Governor Biodun Oyebanji of Ekiti State, yesterday, declared that war against illiteracy and school dropouts will be total under his administration, pledging the readiness of his government to forge a strong partnership with intending private investors to strengthen education in the state.

The governor said this while commissioning a block of four classrooms donated by Build a School Initiative in Africa, BASIA, and Ajoni Local Council Development Area, at Saint Luke’s Primary School, Esun Ekiti in Ikole Local Government Area of the state.

Describing the event as historic, Oyebanji, represented by his Deputy, Mrs Monisade Afuye, said: “Under this administration, the war against illiteracy and school dropout is total. That was why Governor Oyebanji at inception declared free education at both primary and secondary schools. This singular, but lofty move, had helped in raising the school enrolment and makes Ekiti one of the highest school enrolment in the country.”

To accommodate the upsurge caused by exponential students’ enrolment, the governor said his administration has begun the construction of two model secondary schools in Ikere and Ikole Ekiti to avert overcrowding in our schools.

Earlier in his remarks, the President of BASIA, Dr Victor Ukorebi, said the school-building gesture was to reduce out-of-school children in Nigeria, which UNESCO put at over 20 million, describing this as disturbing and a threat to the future of the country.