Former Zonal Director of Ministry of Education, Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Area of Rivers State, Mr Geoffrey Festus Toby, has called on the state Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike to passionately approve the payment of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination fees for students of state origin who are unable to register for the examination.
Toby made the appeal in an interview with The Tide at Opobo Town on Saturday on the need for government to help parents shoulder the educational burden of their children.
He stressed that the state government should as a matter of urgency  encourage Rivers indigenes who may have the zeal to further their academic pursuit but could not due to lack of funds to the effect, pointing out that the state has the capability to do so and yet have failed in that regard.
According to him, “Governor Nyesom Wike should do his best to encourage Rivers youths who are indigent  by writing-off their examination and other educational bills, which would enable them to achieve their target in education and at the end bring better results to the state”.
On Federal Government and ASUU’s debacle, the educationist lamented the continued closure of public tertiary schools and its effect on the education future of Rivers children in tertiary institutions.
He, however, urged the Federal Government to reach an accord with the leadership of ASUU in order to quell the issue of non-settlement of backlog of indebtedness owed university teachers for the students to go back to their academic works.
He also appealed to the federal government to ensure that the impasse between it and ASUU is resolved amicably to avert the current industrial unrest carried by the union.

Bethel Sam Toby