Thank you Commissioner Amanke for your kind response. I commend you in particular because it has proven difficult, in seven years, for Governor Ben Ayade’s officials to answer to public queries without becoming confrontational, abusive and condescending. You avoided all that in your response and I need to point that out and say, God bless you sir.
However, I should also say the response was rather a very familiar disappointment that clearly shows that even our Commissioner of Education has little or no idea of what the provisions of the law on free educations in Nigeria says. The response, instead of sufficing, rather exposed the flanks of the Commissioner and the management committee of our State Ministry of Education as master extortionists deserving of jail time.
Let me start with your first statement sir; “Agba Jalingo, we don’t run government on social media.” Who are even the “WE” that you are referring to?
One problem I see here is that, the long years of passivity of our people in Cross River State, has fed the arrogance of our public officials to a point where they feel that those of them who are in public office, are the government. Appointees have no business telling the people how to run government or where government should be run.
“We the people,” decide how all that is done. And calling you out on any platform, as far as that platform itself isn’t illegal, it is perfectly in order. Part of my job as a citizen and a journalist in our State, is to administer to people like you, daily doses of enlightenment and liberate our people from the arrogance of public officials in our State and make it clear to all of you holding office that you are servants of our people and not our masters.
Trump ran America from Twitter. Almost all European leaders and government ministers in nations and States where government is responsive, are reaching out to their people from social media and getting things done in real time. The world’s biggest billionaires and businesses are busy on social media building clientele and setting the pace, but officials of a failed government in a State that is number three from the bottom out of 36 States in Nigeria, are flaunting their ignorance everyday by bragging that government isn’t run on social media anytime they are called to account. It is rather because you want to continue hiding your shenanigans, that is why you don’t want to utilize the most effective platforms for running governments today, online, as it is done elsewhere.
Amanke:
“The charges the primary school pupils pay which are official and have long been approved and in existence before I became Commissioner, are as follows:
1. Continuous Assessment Booklet: NGN500, paid by primary 1 and primary 4 only, and only paid twice thru out the school period of 6 years. The booklet is used for 3years, so if you buy in primary 1, you only need to buy another one in primary 4, amd thats all.. this booklets are used for their continuous assessments..
2. Computerisation: NGN50 paid per term. The NGN50 is used for the computerisation of thier results.
3. Health fees: NGN200. (it is) used for the provision of sick bays in the schools.
4. Napthan(PTA) fees: NGN100. Paid to PTA (Parents Teachers Association) account.
5. Sports: NGN200. Paid in second term only and for their annual school sports. (It is) paid once (NGN200) per year.
“So, basically what the children are required to pay is NGN350 per term, because the NGN500 for continuous assessment is paid once in 3 years time while the NGN200 for sports is paid once annually. None of all these is paid to me, any headteacher or headteachers you know of that say(s) they pay to me, please show any proofs (sic) or draw my attention.
“Be guided that all these charges stated about where long in existence and approved by the previuos administrations, i have not approved any since my assumption of office in January, 2020, because (I) am rather more sympathetic on the plight of our children. I have severally turned down requests from various headteachers for approval of extra levies to enable them, the headteachers, to provide for perimeter fencing, provison of school chalks, conduct of terminal exams in the schools, purchase of school registers, payments to security, payments to extra teachers that they hire etc., I have turned all those requests down, to avoid additional burden on our children.”
(Let me note here that the very many unedited typographical errors in the response were copied just the way the Commissioner wrote them. I did not edit anything. I assume he was replying under pressure or conclude that is the low quality of the present head of our education ministry.)
But my answer to his claims above is as follows:
The truth is that the Commissioner is just pontificating. He is not sympathetic to the children like he claims. He is just looking for public sympathy for failure to do his work and we must hold him responsible. But, let me explain.
Commissioner Amanke need not be told that the Universal Basic Education Act 2004, already made basic education a fundamental human right and not a privilege.
The Nigerian government introduced the Universal Basic Education to provide free, universal and compulsory basic education for every Nigerian child of primary and junior secondary school age. The Act states that, the Federal Government shall provide assistance to the States and Local Governments in Nigeria for the purposes of uniform, books, sports, qualitative basic education throughout the country. Government even has a free school feeding program to provide food for the kids in school. The law also stipulates that every parent and guardian must ensure that their children or wards attend and complete both primary and junior secondary school education.
A parent who fails to do this, according to the Law, will on first conviction, be reprimanded; on second conviction, liable to a fine of NGN2,000 or imprisonment for a term of one month or to both; and on subsequent conviction, pay a fine of NGN5,000 or be jailed for a term of two months or to both.
To fund the compulsory education scheme, the Federal Government provides billions of Naira sourced from the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) to State governments every year. Two per cent of the CRF is allocated to the Universal Basic Education Commission for the implementation of UBEC in all the States of the federation. States must spend the fund on basic education only, according the law. Cross River SUBEB has accessed several billions from the fund. While the State government has used some to renovate some schools, a bulk of the money has been diverted into the questionable Obudu Canadian University and the Continuous Teachers Training School in Biase Local Government Area, both of which are not basic education projects.
Dear Commissioner Amanke, when the law says something is free and compulsory. It is indeed free and compulsory. Money has been provided for everything you mentioned that the pupils are levied for and even more including their uniforms, books, sports, crafts, instructional materials, and everything that the child needs to attend school including that if the parents refuse to bring the child to school, they are liable to jail time and fines. It is a criminal offence not to take them to school. Even the teacher sending the child home is breaching that law. The child has no business worrying about anything he/she needs in school. They even ask pupils to pay PTA levy. I thought PTA means Parents/Teachers Association. What is the business of the pupils with paying dues in an association of parents and teachers? The decision of the management of your ministry to extort these kids cannot override the provisions of a law in Nigeria.
Then, your attempt to run away from responsibility by claiming the “extortionist levies” were approved before you took office falls flat. If you got into office and found out pupils were been extorted against the provisions of the law on free education, whose job was it to stop it? My own? Were you supposed to stop only things you approved? If you claim to be sympathetic to the pupils, why do you allow children to be sent home from school for not paying levies that the law forbids?
And, let me also put it to you that you should avoid spewing untruths to the public. There are multiple memos from your ministry, to your knowledge and with your consent, that are sent periodically to head teachers to collect illegal levies and these monies return partly to SUBEB, the executive secretary in your ministry and pass through different layers and up to you Sir. Teachers pay between NGN300,000 to NGN400,000 to officials of your ministry to be made Head Teachers. What are they looking for? But the interesting thing is that you all will keep denying until you will be exposed.
Amanke:
“As Local Government Chairman of my local Government, Obanliku, I paid school fees for all the children in both primary and secondary schools across the entire Local Government throughout my tenure. I used to pay an average of NGN7.8 million per term for all the children, making a total of NGN23.4 million annually. Ask any Obanliku person you know to confirm this position, not when am (sic) now Commissioner for Education, I will renege in my service to humanity, never, and I wont.”
Me:
We particularly don’t need this bragging now sir. It wasn’t your money. If it was your money, you would not have stopped paying after leaving office. You don’t use public money to give to another extortionist who was extorting pupils like your ministry is doing now, while you were Local Government Chairman and come out to boast that; “I was paying school fees for children.” Sir, you did not pay anyone’s fees because basic education has been free and compulsory since 2004. Secondly, it was government money. Not your money. Even your entire salary in office for all the time you spent isn’t up to N23.4million per annum.
Amanke:
“Unless there are other charges out there that the headteachers are collecting that we are not aware, then bring such to our notice and we ll deal with such headteachers appropriately.”
Me:
Sir, you know all the illegal levies and you are aware who is collecting what. Don’t pretend sir. Do your work. Do the needful.
Amanke:
“So you cant call these illegal levies, levies duly approved by the management of the Ministry of Education. Unless there are other charges we dont know of.”
Me:
Like I said earlier, the decisions of a corrupt management committee do not and cannot override a law sir.
And on a final note, we will deliver a petition to the House of Assembly insisting they invite the honorable commissioner to explain these issues to our representatives and we are also proceeding to court to seek a pronouncement reaffirming the law that says, basic education is free, qualitative and compulsory as well as seek the recovery of the stolen funds and punishment of the culprits, whether Amanke accepts responsibility or not.
Thanks.
Yours sincerely,
Citizen Agba Jalingo, a Cross Riverian and author, writes in from Lagos.
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