Tag: Remains

The Government of Akwa Ibom State has assured citizens the free education policy introduced by the previous administration would be sustained by the Udom Emmanuel-led government despite paucity of funds.

The Commissioner for Education, Rt. Hon. Aniekan Akpan told The Nation that the clarification became necessary to put to rest rumours by parents that the government might introduce fees in the school system next year.

Akwa Ibom State manages 1,162 public primary schools and 244 secondary and technical colleges.

“The administration of Governor Udom Emmanuel is continuing with the free and compulsory education of the state in the primary and secondary schools.  The government does not have the intention to introduce school fees in the system. The fear is unfounded,” said Akpan who advised the public to always seek information from credible sources.

On the claim that the schools need at least 20,000 new teachers to be appropriately staffed, and the concern that the 5,000 new teachers who were recruited between February and April are yet to be deployed to schools by the end of the year, Akpan, explained that the process of full engagement was in progress.

“The system is dynamic.  There was recruitment in 2013 and another in 2015. The process is still on. The government is being careful and systematic. We don’t want to bring in people and in the next months cannot pay. Teachers’ recruitment into the system is ongoing,” he said.

He said the government has categorized the teachers into subject areas and will be engaging them accordingly.

“We are beginning with the areas of need”, he said, which include Mathematics, English language, and the sciences before others.

He faulted those who are advocating recruitment of 20,000 teachers. He said to attain quality, what the system needs are specialists teachers and not a huge number of teachers per school.

“You don’t need 20,000 new teachers to ensure quality. You don’t need to put 25 teachers in a school to ensure quality. What is really needed are trained teachers who are ready to teach,” he said.

He explained that the state has adopted an innovation in the primary schools level where specialist subject teachers will be used just as what is obtained in the secondary level. This he explained will bring the much desired quality.

“It is not really the number of teachers that are pushed into the system that will guarantee quality, it is rather the quality of who handles what subject,” he said.

Speakers have condemned the purported ousting of Rivers State House of Assembly Speaker Otelemeba Dan Amachree, saying it is unconstitutional and barbaric.

The Conference of Speakers of State Legislators of Nigeria said it recognised him as the substantive Speaker of the Assembly.

The chairman of the Conference and Speaker of the Gombe State Assembly, Mr. Inuwa Garba, spoke at the weekend in Gombe where he presented the position of the Conference on the imbroglio.

He said: “It has come to the notice of the Conference of the Speakers of State Legislators of Nigeria that five Honourable members of Rivers State House of Assembly with the aid of hoodlums allegedly invaded the Honourable House and announced the impeachment of the Speaker of the House, Right Honourable Otelemeba Dan Amachree and purported to have replaced him with Honourable Evans.

“The Conference of Speakers do hereby condemns the action of the five Honourable members of that House in totality as it contravenes the Constitution.

“Section 92 (2c) of the 1999 Constitution as amended provides that the Speaker could only be removed by the resolution of the House via the vote of not less than two-thirds majority of the entire members of that House.

“In view of that Constitutional provision, five members alone cannot remove a Speaker of the House of Assembly of 32 Honourable members. This therefore, implies that the action of those five members is unconstitutional and null and void.”

Garba urged the National Assembly “to declare action of the five honourable members as treason and commence process of taking appropriate constitutional action against them in order to save our democracy”.

The Conference also called on security agencies to give Amachree and all members of the Rivers Assembly protection to facilitate smooth legislative activities.

It was a funeral, but it became an avenue for many to pour out their hearts over the death of Isaac Popoola, the commercial bus driver, who died during a behind-the-wheel tussle with Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) officials on December 24, last year.

His friends and associates described his death as unwarranted.

The late Popoola was buried in his compound yesterday at noon, amidst tears, after a Christian wake keep conducted by the Akowonjo branch of Foursquare Gospel Church. His colleagues, who did not operate as a mark of honour for him, turned out in large numbers.

“Nobody can speak ill of this man,” said Michael Ore, Popoola’s deputy at the Oshodi-Egbeda Motor Park, adding: “LASTMA officials call him mugun (stupid) because he did not like being caught on the wrong side of the law.”

Those who attributed their achievements to Popoola’s large-heartedness were angry.

“He picked me up as a nobody and I lived with him for many years in this compound and got married. But today, I am living in my own house.

“If not for the respect we have for Lagos State government, LASTMA officials that would have been killed in retaliation would have been many because this man meant so much to us. He is the reason someone like me, who people called a riffraff, is proud to be a father today,” said Musibau Majolagbe.

Tunde Saka, another driver said: “LASTMA officials killed a wrong man. They killed somebody that the society should celebrate because of his character and benevolence.

“I slept under Oshodi Bridge for a long time till I met Baba. Then he took me in and built a small room for me in his compound. I lived there for 15 years without payinga kobo. I had my first child there before I went to rent my apartment. If government will compensate his family N100 million is not enough because so many families depended on him.”

Fakomilogbon Sunday, Popoola’s mechanic, had similar story to tell. “I have been living in his compound since November 1996 and have never paid a dime. He would always encourage me to be patient, when I didn’t have any customer. His compound became my workshop and he brought all the clients I have today. Today, I am married. He is my father. Many people owe their existence to him.”

Aremu Salau, Popoola’s bus assistant, said he has been working with him for more than three years adding that it was difficult to tell anyone that he was not related to him.

“I was in debt when I met him and he bailed me out. Even on a bad day when I had no money, he would still give me money, even if he had to borrow. I have been sick since he was killed,” he said, adding: “Baba would not have died if he got help early, but LASTMA officials kept saying that he was pretending.”