manny4life:

Those who are in the U.S. should please petition Mayor Vincent Gray and ask him "why is it that the kids in the District receive stipends or bonus as they called it? Well I guess Michele Rhee (former commissioner of eduction for the district) will tell you that in fact, doing such has improved the grades of the student. The students want to learn more, they stay out of trouble and the whole load of (go figure) that comes with it.

Personally, I DO NOT support such; however, if people do claim it works for them, then hey. I'm no educationalist, perhaps, I have the slightest idea on the psychology on children education;  yet, I wouldn't endorse it. Meanwhile, a good mix of residents endorsed the program,   . This goes to show you, either way though we might not agree on a policy, but if it does work, so be it.

PointB:

Culled from Rochas Okorocha Manifesto
All children of Imo State must have free and compulsory basic/ secondary education. In our administration, Every Child Counts (ECC).
http://imostate.blog.com/2011/09/27/refresher-manifesto-of-his-excellency-governor-rochas-okorocha/

Okija_juju:

Another laudable suggestion yall can hand over to Rochas Okorocha to consider;

Rather than give these children 100Naira per month, why not give out a contract to a reputable foriegn company or a Local company that has proven themselves over atleast 10years (it dosent have to be indegenous to Imo State) to provide snacks/food for these school children everyday during recess.

PointB:

Who will pay for this?
The man has looked into his purse, and arrived at N100 monthly, you rather he provide the food/snacks everyday. Is that equivalent to N100 monthly? By the way, how exactly did you arrive at the fact that feeding them is a better idea that the money?

I beg to differ.

ekt_bear:

Wth does philanthropy have to do with anything?

I can be generous and give away my own personal wealth.

But if I am generous with someone else's property (in this case, Imo State property) and give it away any how, that is a vice rather than a virtue.

Man some of the reasoning used here to justify questionable decisions is very screwy  

Just call a spade a spade, imo.

Eko Ile:


It's def' mind bugling.

Instead of governing and catering to people's long term needs and future via investments in basic and educational infrastructures, the man is throwing money all over the place everyday. Obviously, the man is buying popularity with taxpayers money and many clueless and shortsighted folks are eating it up.

[size=18pt]The kids are still going to wake up tomorrow to no new or renovated schools, no new or equipped libraries and zero investment in education, but millions is leaving the state's account every month for nothing and never to return. [/size]
This is what you call monkey banana governing. 

Okija_juju:

Then transfer the money to something more tangible jor!! Build their freaking schools up!! Buy them gaddarn sports equipments!! I dont care, but you can give money to kids!!

The U.K dosent do it, The U.S dont either [/b]so where the Bleep is Rochas getting this crap from?!

I could fault these policies on different levels.

manny4life:

[b]Those who are in the U.S. should please petition Mayor Vincent Gray and ask him "why is it that the kids in the District receive stipends or bonus as they called it? Well I guess Michele Rhee (former commissioner of eduction for the district) will tell you that in fact, doing such has improved the grades of the student. The students want to learn more, they stay out of trouble and the whole load of (go figure) that comes with it.

Personally, I DO NOT support such; however, if people do claim it works for them, then hey. I'm no educationalist, perhaps, I have the slightest idea on the psychology on children education; yet, I wouldn't endorse it. Meanwhile, a good mix of residents endorsed the program, . This goes to show you, either way though we might not agree on a policy, but if it does work, so be it.

Okija_juju:

Then transfer the money to something more tangible jor!! Build their freaking schools up!! Buy them gaddarn sports equipments!! I dont care, but you can give money to kids!!

The U.K dosent do it, The U.S dont either so where the Bleep is Rochas getting this crap from?!

I could fault these policies on different levels.

jp philips:

[b]i wonder if Nairalanders ever leave their comfort zone

Its rather difficult to understand, for someone abroad or in lagos enjoying the luxury of internet facilities will refer to 150bucks as chicken change not knowing that out of school children in a remote area called ASSA in Imo state, hawk sachet water, chewing stick and oranges for 13hrs with less than that as profit.

It can never be over emphasized that the foundation on which corruption is thriving is UNPATRIOTISM.
The Americans are as corrupt as Nigerians the only difference is that corrupt Americans are patriotic while their Nigerian counterparts are not hence he unleashes corruption with impunity. An example is this; An average Onitsha drug importer brings in fake drugs to Annihilate his own people sometimes his relatives fall victims while the Americans travel to far away Libya and Iraq to murder women and children thus securing cheaper Energy for their people.

A lot of us asked those questions while growing up; “what has the government ever done for us?” this question I was able to answer in part 15yrs on during my youth service. Perhaps In our naivety, the issue of subsidy and road projects etc doesn’t quickly come to mind after all we were no car owners.
Let me tell you, these children out of school take the risk of travelling miles on foot to either watch local football matches or gaming centers. Why not lure them to school

Talking about lunch, on the average, the school children love “okpa” for lunch which cost 5naira. The govt has guaranteed they get one okpa for 20 working days in a month trust me before the year runs out, the schools will run out of accommodation.

If you are still looking for reasons to applaud this step; ask yourself, what will the money be doing in the Govt coffers if not to be embezzled like they experienced with previous administrations?.

I once told a friend of mine in 2003 that if only the Govt can squeeze out 500USD for all Niger delta indigene monthly, I doubt if criminals like MEND, NDPVF etc will have a local standi. In the end we spent and we are still spending fortunes to keep them quiet. Ironically Goof luck is not giving anyone figures on “Militancy subsidy” this men could have laid down their lives protecting oil installations knowing they have something to lose blowing it up.

Yes, it is a good one because it will breed patriotism at a tender age after all the Govt will fool them that they are “chopping oil money” so they are now part of the Nigerians that have access to the National cake. The kids will love their country .I need not remind you that patriotism mitigates corruption

Secondly, they will seriously consider going to school just to get Govt money and free okpa for lunch, let us quit deceiving ourselves about Imo state having highest school leavers in the SE. I seriously doubt those ambiguous figures because I ve never met NOA people going to families to interview and get accurate findings. The figures are mere anecdotes, fabrication built on fallacy.

When I was doing a project in IMO state hundreds of kids below the age of 17 flock around my work site on daily bases looking for menial jobs, if in doubt drive a hilux or any company vehicle and stop at ASSA junction for 10mins, come here and still tell us they are all in school

Lastly and most importantly, the states that don’t pay stipends, what exactly are they doing with their money?

This is a psychological push perhaps that is why most people don’t understand it.

[/b]

Children's minimum wage. Soon, there'll be demand for an increase and more loopholds for campaign manifestos and corruption galore. Principal go declare 50000 pupils instead of 500, parent go declare 15children including dead relatives. He should re-channel the funds wisely.

In your opinion, because DANFO will do wrong parking Fashola shouldn't build roads? only if you collected stipends from your Gov. ur reasoning would have been better

jp philips:

In your opinion, because DANFO will do wrong parking Fashola shouldn't build roads? only if you collected stipends from your Gov. your reasoning would have been better

Your assertions are not rooted in basic foundamentals of prudent governing and public administration. Your job as a public administrator is to govern with tax payers money, not to dish it out everyday like theres no tomorrow.

The best gift ever and the best method of promoting education is to spend your kobo on sustained educational infrastructure and better learning environment to not only help these kids get a better education, but to also sustain future generations.

Most importantly, if the governor had tabled this idea before the people of IMO state by asking the this simple question, what kind of answer do you think the people of IMO stage would have given?

The governor- We have some of your money to spend on education, but we need you to pick one.

Do you want a fully equipped school with better learning facilities for your kids or do you want us to instead dash your kids 100 naira every month?

gists:

My brother, it is called misplaced priorities. The kids in the U.S district you talked about most likely have well equipped libraries, condusive classrooms and teachers' motivation is not even an issue for them. Most people will agree that we don't have such luxuries in public schools in this country. People are not saying he should not encourage students, but must it be with money? Nigeria is already a country where we have traded our values for money (in other words we no get shame again because of moni ). Inducting pupils into the same culture at their tender ages is just suicidal for the nation. Besides is he not even discouraging them? Why go to school just to earn N100 a month when you can earn multiples of that in a day in owerri market.

I believe he can extend his philanthropist scholarship now that he is a governor, he can buy books not only to equip the libraries but for every pupil in public schools. School uniforms can be yearly if he so much want to encourage them. He can increase the teachers' salaries. You'll be amazed at the turn-out if sporting activities and other talent are being encouraged. There are many things he can do with the N100 (that will run to 100s of millions recurring expenditure every month)

This is not the same as handing them N100 every month. Do think the idea of free education can be actualized by dolling out N100 every month? Can that buy any book or even pay for transport for a week to the schools?

Image123:

It's 'interesting' some are actually promoting this. We need real progress in the country, not 100naira per month. I've passed through imo a few couple of times, the most conspicuous thing to me were the horrible roads and the young touts collecting money in many corners from cars and buses. Are those the people who need 100naira per month? If young people need money in that state, touting is more lucrative, no disrespect to indigenes. What does 100naira buy for a month? I'm not asking him to increase it. It's a good gesture but it's better and best that's needed. This is imo and 2011. He can invest it in their education like some have suggested. How about twelve 10million naira solid education standard institutions across the state, and then he offers it for free to indigenes. How about japanlike technical school projects. How about thinking ahead, and not just buying people with money for cheap. Is that really how cheap imo is? I mean, i have friends from there, didn't imagine the dream was so .

As at 2008, Imo State had about 1,296 Primary Schools. Because of proximity (of the schools) and age of pupils, the number will be maintained and our Government will spend between 8.5 and 9.2 Billion Naira over a period of four years; for the refurbishment of the said primary Schools to meet with today’s standard of learning environment.

renewnaija:

God bless Rochas.

This will encourage students to go to school, if not for anything for the money. Thats how it starts. The greatest gift you can give a people is not infrastructure but education.

renewnaija:

Do you know how many families will now benefit from Junior's N100 he gets from school?