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COVID-19: No Resumption Date Yet For Schools, Says Bayelsa Ministry Of Education …Warns Private Schools Proprietors, Commences e-Learning

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Permanent Secretary Bayelsa state Ministry of Education,comrade Walton Liverpool says no date has been slated for the resumption of schools in the state.

Liverpool hinted The Tide this during an interview held with him in Yenagoa.

According to him,that the Federal Government has slated part reopening of schools for 3rd August is not a yardstick that the state must do so.

He noted that due to the peculiar nature of the state in terms of having more far-flung communities in all the Local Government Areas,the Government is being meticulous in resuming schools without adequate preparations, saying that before doing so the state Government through the Ministry of Education would work out appropriate and sustainable modalities to ensuring that Covid-19 is contained in the Education sector within the requisite National centre for disease control,NCDC stipulated guidelines.

Liverpool restated his commitment towards ensuring an unimpeded school curricular,emphasizing that the Ministry has since introduced various e-learning platforms comprising the social and electronic media to

cushion the learning deficit occasioned by the pandemic.

While reacting to the recent feud between the State wing of the Nigeria Union of Teachers,NUT and the Academic staff union of secondary schools,ASUSS the Education Permanent Secretary who served as the pioneer state chairman of the NUT berated ASUSS,saying they took the laws in their hands.

He described ASUSS as an association and not a registered trade union,advising that they desist from further parading themselves as such,just as he restated that under his leadership in NUT years ago a similar splinter group sprung up, reassuring however,that there was a solution to the problem which can still be applied today to amicably resolve the lingering issues rather than parade as a splinter group.

“We’ve not taken a date to resume schools in the state.Even though the Federal Government has taken and again reordered,due to our peculiar problems we’ve not slated any date”, he said.

“Before we reopen we would have to provide measures to containing the spread in and amongst our schools”, he added.

“But to bridge the learning vacuum created by

Covid-19 the Education Ministry has commenced e-learning programmes on different social media platforms and on Radio too for schools and students in both primary and secondary schools in the state”, he stated.

“For ASSUS, my advise for them is that they stop parading themselves as a trade union henceforth.They’re an Association under the NUT and not a trade union as they claim. I’ve been the NUT state chairman and I know this very well” he concluded.

Meanwhile in a press statement made available to The Tide by the Ministry,the permanent secretary has warned owners and the management of private schools in the state to desist from resuming schools.

The pioneer State NUT chairman restated that even though the West African Examinations council has fixed 3rd August and 5th September as the date for the commencement and rounding up of the 2020 WASSCE the schools in the state may not resume until the state is certified fit by the NCDC to reopen schools.

In another development it seems not yet Uhuru with the proposed schools reopening date in Nigeria as the Federal Government has again reordered its earlier decision on the resumption

date.

In the same vein there are indications that in consonance with dissenting opinions on a possible resumption date as earlier expressed by some state Governments and stakeholders in the Education sector, the Federal Government may no longer be willing to permit Nigeria’s participation in the regional examinations this year following the resurgence of more cases of the novel Covid-19 pandemic.

The Tide learnt that the Federal Ministry of Education has expressed concerns on the safety of Nigerian students when schools are resumed amidst rising number of the Coronavirus infections in the country.

You would be recalled that penultimate week the Federal Government announced August 3rd as the resumption date of schools in Nigeria, while the West African Examinations council,WAEC also followed suit by giving 3rd  August through 5th September as dates for kick-starting and ending up of this year’s WASSCE.

Inset:comrade Walton Liverpool, PS Bayelsa state Ministry of Education.

By Ariwera Ibibo-Howells, Yenagoa.

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Niger Delta

Cleric Urges Youths To Take Care Of Their Parents

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A Superintendent, Christ Army Church, City of David Cathedral, Ikot Ebidang, Onna, Akwa Ibom State, Mr David Udonsek, has tasked Nigerian youths to take care of their aged parents.
Udonsek offered the counsel in an interview with newsmen during the 3rd National Conference of the Church in Onna.
The Tide’s source reports that a sermon with the theme: “Parents Are Gates And Doors of Life”, was delivered at the conference.
Udonsek cautioned Nigerian youths against abandoning their parents at old age as such attitude usually reflect negatively on the larger society and on such children.
“A man’s door is shut immediately he or she abandons his parents.
“Children must catter for their parents because it is their responsibility to do that. In doing so, they are just reciprocating what the parents did for them from infancy into adulthood.
“Parents are gates through which everyone passes through, into this world; during labour, if a woman decides to close her legs, the child will not come out.
“Until a mother’s body is open, babies cannot find their way out into the world, either through womanhood or Caesarian Section.
“To castigate your parents as witches and wizards could cause a blockage to one’s destiny. It is a secret we have neglected. Our parents need our care just as they cattered for us during our childhood”, he said.
He advised youths to live for their parents in order to avoid walking in the dark, expressing regret that the neglect of parents was among the worst problems confronting Christian families.
He regretted that pride, self-centeredness, egoism and other bad tendencies were destroying the society, and particularly wondered why people would blame their parents for their failures in life.
“Seeing one’s parents as problems is the beginning of more problems for one”. he said.

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C’River Dedicates Gov’s Tribunal Victory To People

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The Government of Cross River State has dedicated the victory of the State Governor, Bassey Otu, at the governorship election petition tribunal on Tuesday to the people of the State.
The state Commissioner for Information, Mr Erasmus Ekpang, stated this while reacting to the judgment, which affirmed the election of Otu, who is of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Ekpang noted that while APC remained the vehicle that brought the government to office, the party was working with the mandate that was given to it by the people.
He said the judgment did not come to him as a surprise, stressing that there was never a case before the tribunal in the first instance.
Ekpang said, “I wasn’t surprised with the eventual outcome of the petition as the issues raised were all pre-election matters.
“We are indeed glad that it has come to an end and we want to ultimately dedicate this victory to the people who gave us the mandate in the first instance.
“Having done with the judgment, I now want to call on our friends from the other side to join hands with the governor to move the state to the next level.
“The state belongs to us all and not the party that we represent. They should feel free to come forward if they have good ideas to develop Cross River”.
The tribunal, led by Justice Oken Inneh, affirmed Otu’s victory by dismissing all the reliefs sought by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Prof. Sandy Onor.
Onor and the PDP had challenged Otu’s victory in the March 18 governorship election on the ground that Otu and his deputy, Mr John Odey, were not qualified to contest the poll.

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Edo 2024: Oba Blesses Guber Aspirants

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The Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare II, has said his palace remains apolitical and would always pray for political office seekers that seek his blessing and support.
The monarch spoke on Wednesday, when he received a former State Governor and APC Governorship Aspirant, Prof. Oserheimen Osunbor, and a frontline Labour Party Governorship Aspirant, Mr Kenneth Imansuangbon.
The TIde’s source reports that both aspirants were at the palace at different times to ask for the Oba’s royal blessings and support.
The monarch prayed for them and wished them well in their aspirations.
The arrival of the aspirants at the palace courtyard appeared carnival-like with each accompanied by different support groups and cultural dancers.
Speaking on Osunbor’s ambition, the highly revered monarch said the capability of the former governor, who was sacked by the election petition tribunal, was not in doubt.
He promised him that a prayer team would be put in place so that he would be free from any harm and also achieve his heart desire.
Osunbor was Edo State Governor between May 2007 and November 2008 before he was removed and replaced with Sen. Adams Oshiomhole.
Earlier in a speech, he said he was Governor for a short period “so it is my desire to come back and complete my mission and also contribute in my own way to assist Your Royal Majesty in developing our state to an enviable level.
“I know it is in the interest of Your Royal Majesty that whoever is coming to govern the state should be somebody who has the interest of the state at heart and prepared to do what is required to elevate Edo to an enviable height”
He recalled that within the short period of his stay in office, he exhibited excellence in governance.
He also recalled that he initiated a successful students’ bursary scheme and ensured that pensioners were paid their pension arrears without any of them owed by his government.
Speaking on his academic brilliance, he disclosed that he graduated with First Class in Law to become the first Nigerian to achieve the feat at the University of Nigeria.
The Omo N’Oba also prayed for Imansuangbon to have a hitch-free campaign, ahead of the poll in 2024.
Imansuangbon, popularly called Riceman, told the oba that he came to seek his blessing and support as he embarked on his campaign for the poll.
He said, “As my father, there is no way I can embark on my journey to the Government House without having the blessings of my father.
“My desire to govern Edo is to bring purpose and pattern to good governance”.
He promised the royal father that his administration would be just and firm.
He gave assurance that he would welcome the wise counsel of the traditional institution on the best ways to move the state forward, when elected.
He also promised to provide adequate security for lives and property in the state through the creation of jobs for the teeming unemployed youths.

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