Education
Parents Want Commissioner’s Removal Over School’s Poor State
Parents whose wards are pupils of the Family Support Nursery/Primary school along parliamentary road in Calabar municipality recently staged a peaceful protest calling for the resignation of the Commissioner for Women Affairs, Mrs. Edak Iwuchukwu, over the neglect of the school by the ministry.
Their protest was based on allegation of embezzlement of funds, lack of infrastructural development, increase in school fees and complete poor management.
They also accused the Commissioner of introducing several levies ranging from N500 development fee, N500 examination fee, N1000 sports equipment, N500 sanitation and N500 for damages without consulting the Parents’ Teachers Association (PTA).
However, they said, “having paid all these levies, the money was not used for any of the services mentioned above while children who were to leave the school were denied graduation at the end of their school year. This is the first time we parents are experiencing this in this school. The former commissioner was not like this.”They accused the Commissioner also of plotting to sale off the school to herself against the dream of the founding fathers.
Parents numbering over 200 said they were protesting when the school Headmaster refused our wards their terminal results and an end of term get together which had been paid for since the first term.
However, following their protest, the commissioner invited the Headmaster and released funds the next day for the ceremony but most angry parents still said they were not satisfied with the management of the school.
Established since 1996, the school is said to be the brain child of the late Marian Babangida with the intention to support poor parents who are unable to send their children to school.
With a population of over 1000 then, the enrolment has reduced to a mere 300 as of today with teachers being owned arrears of salaries.
In an interview with a parent, Mr. Okon E. Okon with three of his kids in the school said “development in the school during the tenure of the present commissioner the school has been killed and buried. He said for three terms running, no results have been released by the school to parents.”
Another parent, Mr. Sunday Joshua also with three kids said that “parents were ready to withdraw their wards if the situation continues to deteriorate. He said the school has continued to witness large exodus of children because of poor facilities and management of the school. It is better off some years back which attracted us to bring our wards here.”
Earlier, the School headmaster, Mr. Emmanuel Agom in his reaction, said “all fees and levies meant for the school were paid into the banks and I only get money when approval comes from the Ministry.”
According to him, “I am still expecting the release of funds to organise an end of year party and send off for pupils in the school and whenever approval comes I will call parents and pupils for the function.”
In her reaction, the Commissioner, Mrs. Iwuchukwu, told Dossier that one third of pupils in the school owed school fees and it was not therefore possible to meet all the demands of the school/parents.
While apologising to parents, she promised that come September 2013, new structures will be erected in the school along with other amenities to decongest classrooms and bring in other facilities.
She said the call for her to resign was ill conceived as running of the activities in the school were handled by a constituted management and that was only one small unit of her schedule of duty, adding that “I was not appointed to come and run a school.”
The commissioner said further that with a monthly imprest of N60, 000 for the headmaster to handle sanitation matter and wondered why parents should complain. She advised parents to note that the school should be seen as a revenue earner for government and not a philanthropic institution.
She advised them to take away their wards to other schools if they do not feel satisfied with the handling of the day to day activities in the school.
She said that she had directed the school headmaster to publish the names of all children who owed school fees so as to refuse them further participation.
Some of the teachers interviewed told the Dossier that they were still on casual appointment and their salaries not at par with others in government circle as the school is run by the Ministry of women affairs.
This ugly development, it was gathered has not encouraged them adding that “prompt payment of our wages as at when due will go a long way to return the school back to its lost glory.”
A professor of Highway Engineering at the Rivers State University (RSU), Prof. Emmanuel Osilemme Ekwulo, has identified poor designs, inadequate materials, insufficient testing, and lack of accountability as major obstacles to the success of highway construction projects in the country.
Ekwulo made this remark in Port Harcourt last Wednesday during the 128th inaugural lecture series of the university, where he presented a lecture titled “Removing Roadblocks: Rebuilding a Foundation for Reliable Highway Pavement Infrastructure.”
The university don lamented the consistent premature failures of road construction projects nationwide, despite huge investments by the government at all levels, attributing the problem to neglected basics and systemic principles in the industry.
According to him, rebuilding the foundation technically, institutionally, and ethically is crucial to building strong and lasting pavements.
Ekwulo emphasized the need for political will, professional integrity, and commitment to engineering excellence to overcome the challenges.
“The metaphoric roadblocks are those challenges causing premature failures,” Ekwulo said, adding that identifying and addressing these roadblocks is key to rebuilding the nation’s highways.
He recommended that institutions involved in road design and construction adopt a mechanistic-empirical design approach, and develop a comprehensive framework for implementing the Nigerian Imperial and Mechanistic Pavement Design System (NEMPADS) approach.
Ekwulo also advocated for mandatory traffic load analysis, strengthened university-industry collaboration, and funding for applied pavement research.
Corruption, he noted, is a major challenge in the profession, saying severe punitive measures are needed to curb shabby practices leading to premature road failures.
The Vice Chancellor of the university, Professor Isaac Zeb-Obipi, described Ekwulo’s lecture as interesting and intriguing, highlighting the importance of implementing solutions to Nigeria’s highway challenges.
The Vice Chancellor also described Ekwulo’s proposals as practical and applicable to government and industry stakeholders.
He said the university is committed to research aligned with national development goals, referencing its NDV-12 responsive consortium production framework.
Zeb-Obipi noted that Ekwulo’s recommendations are timely and solution-driven, and will contribute to addressing Nigeria’s highway challenges.
Akujobi Amadi
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