Bisi Olaniyi, Benin

CHAIRMAN of Edo State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) Dr Joan Oviawe has described the Godwin Obaseki-led administration as the most teacher-friendly government in Nigeria.

According to her, primary school teachers in Edo were among the best well-treated in the country.

Her stand is following the proposed indefinite strike of teachers scheduled to start January 18.

Oviawe, who spoke on Thursday in Benin, noted that the take-home pay of teachers was more than that of an average civil servant.

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She said: “There is no basis for the planned January 18 strike by teachers as Governor Obaseki has done so much for them.

“Edo State does not have any issue with anybody. The government has been pro-teachers. Only three of the 18 councils owe primary school teachers.”

Oviawe hinted that SUBEB had trained 11,400 teachers in the last two years. She said Edo was the only state in Nigeria that had trained such high number of teachers. She also said community-based teachers would be recruited and trained this year.

Bisi Olaniyi, Benin

NIGERIAN Union of Teachers (NUT) in Edo State has directed primary school teachers and school heads to embark on indefinite strike starting January 18.

The directive was contained in a communiqué issued at the end of its enlarged State Wing Executive Council (SWEC) meeting in Benin.

It was signed by Chairman Pius Okhueleigbe, Assistant Secretary-General Mike Itua, and three others.

The union said its decision to embark on strike was because of the state’s failure to meet its 10-point demands. It added that the strike followed the expiration of the 21-day and 14-day ultimatums earlier given to the Godwin Obaseki-led government.

The communiqué reads: “All public primary school-heads and teachers in the 18 local government areas should embark on indefinite strike from 12am of January 18. They must ensure all teaching and learning tools in their possession are put in off-mode.”

Some of NUT’s demands include payment of the 2013 to 2015 promotion arrears of teachers in Oredo, Orhionmwon and Uhunmwode councils.

Others are reinforcement and guaranteeing of the payment of primary school teachers’ monthly salaries, on or before the 27th of every month, correct implementation of the 30 per cent special allowance for teachers of challenged children and all arrears paid, among others.

 Simon Utebor, Yenagoa

BAYELSA State-born female lawyer Miss Ebizi Eradiri, who graduated with first-class honours from the Niger Delta University (NDU), Amassoma, and repeated same feat at the Nigerian Law School, has narrated how she was almost frustrated by randy lecturers in the university.

She spoke on Wednesday in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, during a reception organised in her honour by the Sele Eradiri Foundation, in collaboration with other NGOs, and tagged ‘#Schoolnobescam.’

According to the young lawyer, but for prayers, hard work and dedication, she would not have attained the unprecedented feat of becoming the first female student to graduate from the NDU Faculty of Law with a First Class.

She said: “I would say it’s through prayers and how I kept myself. I was very conscious of my dressing, which enabled me to get the best dressed female student in the faculty the year I graduated. I didn’t wear skimpy things that would expose sensitive parts of my body.

“I felt that was the starting point for me not to even attract the wrong lecturers to myself. I would say it’s prayer because there was a time we had a borrowed course and a particular lecturer was trying to do something funny. When I sensed that in the first semester, I called home, told them what was happening and we prayed and prayed.

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“At some point, I related the matter to my HoD and she warned the lecturer. These are some of the challenges the girl-child is likely to face, but through prayers and escalating it to the appropriate quarters, I think they can scale through.”

Eradiri vowed to use her appointment as the New Face of the Bayelsa Girl-Child as a corporate mentorship platform to inculcate reading culture in young Bayelsans.

The audience urged the government to match words with action and fulfill its promise to sponsor Ebizi through her Master’s and Doctorate degrees in any university of her choice.

Convener of the Ebizi homecoming reception Ebiekure Eradiri said the #Smchoolnobescam tag was to change the narrative about the youths and raise a new generation of leaders through intellectual prowess.

“We want our youths to begin to see education as the real thing for development, using Ebizi as a role model,” he said.

 Mike Odiegwu, Port Harcourt

THE Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide has decried the incessant pirate attacks on traders and passengers along the Bonny and Andoni waterways in Rivers State.

IYC President Peter Igbifa, in a statement in Port Harcourt yesterday, urged the government and affected local government areas to take proactive measures to tame the trend.

Igbifa lamented that travellers were killed, maimed and injured by the bandits who operated freely. He appealed to the military and marine police to set up checkpoints along the waterways to restore the confidence of travellers.

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He said: “These travelling routes have become death traps because daredevil marauding beasts have converted them to their conquered territories and operating at will.

“The criminal activities along these waterways are alarming, barbaric and saddening. Our people travel in fear. It has negatively impacted on economic activities, especially as most people engage in buying and selling as their means of livelihood. This means that they must travel to Port Harcourt through the water to bring in goods to their communities. Unfortunately, they now travel at the mercy of merciless bandits.

“There is an urgent need to sanitise the waterways and dismantle the camps of these criminals. We call on the state and local government to collaborate with security agencies to ensure the safety of our people.”

By Okodili Ndidi, Abuja and Chris Njoku, Owerrri

The Coalition of South East Professional Network in Nigeria and Diaspora (CSEPNND) has reiterated its call that leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, be extradited to Nigeria to face his trial for alleged treason.

It also chided IPOB spokesman, Emma Powerful, for referring to it as a non-existent organisation.

The coalition insisted it is a recognised and respectable body, and its President, Prof. Madumere Chika, a well known scholar with proven records.

A statement by Prof. Chika and National Secretary Anayo Uchemba said claims by IPOB that it was a creation of the Department of State Service (DSS) and non-existent was laughable and diversionary. It asked the separatist group to leave the DSS out of its woes.

The statement reads: “Our attention has been drawn to a watery and uncoordinated response to our call for Kanu’s extradition. Emma Powerful referred to our group as a creation of the DSS, and fake, non-existent.

“The pseudo Powerful, who has not been sighted anywhere, or known by anyoneanywhere in the world, also denied the existence of our President, Prof. Madumere Chika, who is recognised internationally.

“IPOB’s response through the non-existent Powerful is diversionary with intent to blackmail our treasured DSS and the Nigerian state from doing the needful on Kanu’s repatriation.

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“We are a legitimate and independent non-violent group of Igbo professionals, with our head office in Awka, Anambra State. We are duly incorporated with all the relevant bodies in Nigeria and have been operating since 2014.

“We are not surprised of their claims as we have noticed overtime that it is the style of the proscribed IPOB to question the credibility or otherwise of anyone or group that speaks truth against it.

“We are not a creation of DSS and cannot be. Rather, we are a creation of one Nigeria and good conscience. We are a creation of Igbo who have paid their full dues in Nigeria and are pushing for better deals for their people.

“We denounce Nnamdi Kanu and his terrorist group. Kanu and his bunch of misinformed youths cannot speak for or lead the Igbo nation. We reiterate our demand for Kanu’s repatriation to Nigeria to face trial.”

But Kanu has described calls for his repatriation as a confirmation that IPOB is the greatest nightmare to the Federal Government.

“It’s an acknowledgement that IPOB has roundly defeated the government in the battle of ideas,” he said.

Kanu, who spoke through Powerful, said: “Why DSS has chosen to continue to disgrace itself by creating these fake groups is beyond comprehension. Such a weak and tactless strategy will not distract us. If indeed such a group exists, why can’t they conduct a live news conference to convince the people of Biafra they are real?

“If the so-called CSEPNND is real and identifiable, let them show us their faces, give us their contact address so we can take them seriously. If the self-acclaimed leaders of CSEPNND – the imaginary Prof. Madumere Chika and Anayo Uchemba – are not robots, let them mention their communities and kinsmen.

“We can say without equivocation that there is no Igbo professor with the name Madumere Chika, and there is no Igbo professional association known as CSEPNND. This is purely a DSS fictitious creation meant to deceive the gullible and undiscerning. We challenge them to disclose their address and location for enquiries and confirmation if indeed they are not fake…”

 Nsa Gill, Calabar

CROSS River State has said it did not employ the protesting magistrates.

A statement by the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Tanko Ashang, said the magistrates recruitment was fraudulent.

The statement reads: “The protesting magistrates, at a meeting, acknowledged that they were illegally recruited.

“Represented by their leaders, the magistrates pleaded with Governor Ben Ayade to regularise their employments.

“Their employment was irregular as it did not have the necessary approvals required for the engagement of any officer into the public service. We challenge the magistrates to present any approvals that were obtained, if any, prior to their engagement or take the government to court if they feel they have a right…”

Ashang however promised to work with the Judicial Service Commission to correct all irregularities in the system.

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But Chief Magistrate Solomon Abuo, who attended the meeting, said neither he nor his colleagues admitted to their employment being fraudulent.

“We didn’t admit that our employment was fraudulent. Our employment is neither illegal nor fraudulent. The Judicial Commission advertised vacancies in the magistracy and we applied. We were screened, interviewed and successful ones were sworn in by the Chief Judge, who is also Chairman of the State Judicial Service Commission.

“After our swearing in, we were sent for about three months’ training and a one-week induction course in Abuja. We were issued certificate of participation by the National Judicial Institute.

“When we returned, we were posted to different courts and we resumed sitting. To my knowledge what was expected of us was done. Ours was to follow the process, apply for the job and made ourselves available to be screened.

“When we were not paid, we wrote series of letters to the government and it has set up different screenings about three times which we participated in. If there was anything, they should have made it public since. Why now?”