By Our Reporter
The Executive Chairman, Cross River State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Dr. Stephen Odey has disclosed that upon resumption of office, he met a dead edifice, dormant and comatose board, identified 34 ghost workers and transferred 37 unproductive directors and senior staff.
He made the revelation recently while speaking with CrossRiverWatch in his office. According to him, the office which now wears a new look was a shadow of itself when he arrived.
He further disclosed that those behind the identified ghost workers will soon face the wrath of the law pending the governor’s approval.
His words: “When I came here the office was not working, there was no electricity supply, and the staff morale was very low, because for over a year there has been no imprest. The running of the administration collapsed entirely”.
The Chairman further stated that he has utilized his experience as a trained sociologist and a teacher in tackling some of the tricky issues he met at the board.
“When I came on board Cross River is rated as a non-performing State by the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) assessments and to me it is unacceptable. The Governor has given me the mandate towards moving basic education in the State to the top”.
He went on to blame the challenges facing basic education in the State on the inability of the previous administration to access the counterpart funding made available by UBEC since 2012 till date because of pitiable financial position of the State.
Stating that, “If we can access this money the State will never remain the same, the money is still available in the Federal Government account, but because of the poor financial position of the State we haven’t been able to access it since 2012.
“The current administration is saying that irrespective of the fact that the State is financially down, we must put all efforts towards accessing these funds because education is his priority”.
The Chairman promised to improve basic education in Cross River within the next three years of his reign, as he has already put in place an action plan towards that effect.
To that extent, he said he had acquired 1,250 plastic furniture which will be shared among schools promising that more is yet to arrive and he will soon mobilize contractors to go back to the field and complete abandoned infrastructure projects.
Again he revealed that he had toured more than thirty schools across the State and he is aware of the rot and infrastructural decay within the State basic education system and has already set up machinery to tackle the challenges.
He concluded by calling on all and sundry to join hands with him to achieve his goals for the best interest of the State.
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