Building More Than Classrooms: How Sunday Karimi Is Wiring Kogi West for the Digital Exams Age

Abu Micheal

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In Kogi West, access to education is fast becoming access to a computer screen. Senator Sunday Steve Karimi, representing Kogi West Senatorial District, is betting the 2026 appropriation on that reality, influencing the upgrade of facilities in selected secondary schools for the establishment of three additional Computer Based Training centres across the district.

The move comes on the heels of last week’s successful hosting of over 1,200 candidates who sat for the 2026 Joint Admission and Matriculation Board examinations at the 288-seater CBT centre in Titcombe College, Egbe, a facility he facilitated in partnership with the Titcombe College Old Students Association.

Speaking in Abuja, Senator Karimi disclosed that three more CBT centres have been earmarked in the budget for establishment before the next JAMB and West African Examinations Council examinations.

He has made funds available in the 2026 appropriation for the conversion of existing structures at Muslim Community Secondary School, Lokogoma in Lokoja LGA, Government Science School, Iyara in Ijumu LGA, and Okutadudu Comprehensive College, Odo Ere in Yagba West LGA, for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of existing structures to accommodate 275-capacity CBT testing centres that will include 275 laptops, internet connectivity services, Close Circuit Television cameras, solar energy to power the system, standby generating sets, and toilet facilities tailored to meet JAMB requirements.

“I’m already in discussion with the contractor for a timely delivery of the projects without having to wait for fund releases from the federal government to enable the facilities to be ready and approved for 2027 JAMB and WAEC examinations,” he said.

Drawing from the experience of establishing the TCEOSA CBT centre at Titcombe College, Egbe, the Senator said efforts will be geared to ensure a seamless delivery of the additional three facilities to be located in Kabba/Bunu/Ijumu, Lokoja/Kotonkarfe, and Yagba Federal Constituencies.

Beyond the three centres captured in this year’s budget, the lawmaker, who chairs the Senate Services Committee, promised to personally fund a fourth CBT centre to be established at ECWA Secondary School, Mopa in Mopamuro LGA in liaison with the community. Karimi’s push for infrastructure is not limited to classrooms.

Similarly, work has resumed on the Iluhagba–Mopa–Isanlu–Egbe federal road, with contractor CGC now mobilized to site and making steady progress along the Isanlu–Ejiba axis.

The Senator confirmed the contractor’s return was made possible by N3 billion captured for the project in the 2025 budget and an additional N6 billion secured through discussions with the Minister of Works.

He commended President Bola Tinubu and Minister of Works David Umahi for their support in reviving the project.

“I am confident that this road will improve the lives and security of our people,” Karimi said, noting that President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda “continues to be a reality in Kogi West in particular and Nigeria in general.”

The Iluhagba–Mopa–Isanlu–Egbe road is a major federal route connecting several communities in Kogi West, and its revival has been a long-standing demand of constituents.

Born on March 10, 1962, in Egbe, Yagba West Local Government Area, Senator Sunday Steve Karimi is an engineer by profession and a businessman before politics. He studied Production Engineering with distinction at Kwara State College of Technology, Ilorin in 1979, and later earned a Higher National Diploma in Mechanical and Materials Engineering from Kwara State Polytechnic, also with distinction.

From humble beginnings, shaped by the diversity of his challenges while growing up and toughened by the reality of life’s deprivations, he ventured into private business where he built Atlantic Drilling Fluids Services Limited into a reputable indigenous company executing several water projects for both federal and state governments, building capacity for numerous persons along the way.

His civic experience began as a Further Mathematics teacher at African Secondary School, Isanlu, after serving in Borno State, before spending nine years as an engineer at Defense Industries Company Nigeria Limited, DICON, prior to resigning to start his engineering firm.

Elected to the House of Representatives in 2011 and reelected in 2015 — the first lawmaker in his Federal Constituency to secure reelection owing to impactful representation — he moved to the Senate in February 2023 to represent Kogi West in the Tenth Assembly.

Known for his penchant for integrity, fairness, equity, and philanthropy, his legislative and oversight accomplishments span several bills and motions with direct positive impact on Nigerians in education, security, agriculture, youth and women empowerment, and rural development.

Married to Mrs. Stellaris Karimi with children, the Senator is described as a man cut out for service, with a reach that cuts across all wards and units in his jurisdiction.

In a few years in the Senate, his constituents point to several life-touching projects, from digital exam halls to federal roads, as evidence that Karimi’s engineering background now builds more than water schemes — it builds access.

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