Ex-NBA Chairman Wants Enforcement Of Directive On Schools

The immediate past Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association Rivers State chapter, Mr Otonye Amachree has called on government to enforce its directive on resumption of schools on January 29.

Amachree made the call on Wednesday in Port Harcourt in an interview with The Tide.

He said for some school proprietors to flout the directive by government on resumption was an indication of the readiness of some Nigerians to frustrate the success of 2011 elections.

Investigations conducted by The Tide on Tuesday revealed that some private schools mainly owned by some religious bodies in Port Harcourt resumed the second term classes on January 10.

Amachree said although government’s decision to shift resumption of schools was not ‘very rational decision’, but added that school proprietors ought to have respected the order in the interest of patriotism.

“For some school owners to not only resume schools, but are threatening to punish children whose parents heeded to the directive on grounds of security reason adduced by government in the decision was totally wrong.

The Tide recalls that Rivers State Ministry upon receiving signal from the federal government announced in some local radio stations that primary and secondary schools obey the directive and shift their resumption to February 7.

Amachree said, “flouting government’s order on the voter’s registration exercise is visible act to frustrate producing credible voter’s register crucial for a successful general elections.

“The federal government had voted over 100 billion for the conduct of this elections and for any Nigerian to be involved in any act of sabotage to the exercise is very unpatriotic”, the former  NBA chairman said.

He noted that since the schools were not in their third terms, any perceived lost grounds on the two weeks the INEC registration would last could be covered.