Ben Dunno, Warri
The video of a seven-year-old schoolgirl, Success Adegor, in uniform, venting uncontrollable anger over the decision of the headteacher to send her home, due to the inability of her parents to pay school fees that went viral on the social media three weeks ago, (precisely on Thursday, March 14, 2019), was perceived differently by many.
While some see it as a hilarious video of a typical Warri girl who understood the real Pidgin English and applied it appropriately to convey her message, others view it as another version of ‘Emmanuella’, the popular whizkid social media comedian, who has turned a household name in the business. And to the majority of viewers, her boldness in expressing herself was quite laudable.
But beyond all these interpretations, no one had anticipated that the action of little Success Adegor would be used by politicians to score points by playing to the gallery and also exposing the rots in the nation’s educational sector.
HOW IT ALL STARTED
One of the early commentators on the viral video was Dr. Emmanuel Eweta Uduaghan, former governor of Delta State, who after watching it took to his Facebook account to sympathise with the little girl and further exposed the fact that the incident happened in Delta State.
No sooner had he made the pronouncement than it was discovered that little Success Adegor, was actually a Primary 3 pupil of Okotie Eboh Primary School 1, located along the popular Macpherson Road in the old city of Sapele, Sapele Local Government Area of Delta State.
This discovery added a whole lot of credibility to the trending video, as it further confirmed that little Success Adegor, was not in any way a comedian, putting up an act that would make her another social media star; but that of an innocent young girl who bared her mind and pains over the headteacher’s decision to deny her right to education.
POLITICIANS PLAYING TO THE GALLERY
Friday, March 15, a day after the video went viral, the first visitor to the school was Chairman of Sapele Local Government, Chief Eugene Inoaghan, who along side his legislative arms, promised Success Adegor scholarship all through to secondary school.
They also visited her home to see her parents where they announced the package for their daughter whose vituperation on social media over being denied access to school for non-payment of fees has attracted so much sympathy, both at home and aboard.
Speaking at Success home, the chairman described the pupil as a lucky girl destined to go places by virtue of her intelligence and boldness, adding that he has directed the council Secretary to officially write the parents to notify them of the award of scholarship.
STATE GOVERNMENT EARLY REACTION
The realisation that the viral video of a little girl sent home from school happened in Delta State also became a cause of concern to the state government led by Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, who needed to be proactive in clarifying issues based on his administration’s free education policy.
Commissioner for Basic Education, Mr. Chiedu Ebie, in his preliminary response before embarking on a fact-finding visit to the school, was of the opinion that Success’s viral video must have been prompted by the headteacher, who he said may have acted unethically.
He made it abundantly clear that the state operates free education.
“However, we discovered overtime that some school heads take the law into their hands by imposing illegal levies. We have battled this in the last three and half years of this administration. We have had school heads suspended and demoted.
“This may well be another case of a school head taking laws into her hands and imposing levies that ought not to be imposed on the students. We have what we referred to as ‘approved levy’ in our schools. It is issued by the ministry of education. Approved levy is N100 for consumables and no school head has the right to collect above N100.
“Also, for sports wears because of inter-house sports and other sporting activities, we have a flat rate of N750. It’s clearly specified and clearly defined. In this case, I understand that it was exam levy of N800, levy for a book of N1,000 and another one for N300.
“These students are not expected to pay any exam levy. Even in private schools, they don’t even pay. The only external exam they pay for is the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) when they are in SS3. The primary six exams are borne by the state government, Junior WAEC (JSS 111) is also borne by government. It’s only the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) that the students pay for themselves.
“There is nothing like examination levy and the school heads have no right to impose such a fee. We will give her the opportunity to hear from her. The video has been trending for the past three weeks and she must be aware of it. If I am not convinced or satisfied with her response, judgment or punishment will be meted out on her pending conclusion of a more detailed investigation in line with civil service rules.”
RESIDENTS REACTIONS
Speaking about the state of the school, a neighbour (resident), Mr Christopher Akpiti, expressed mixed feelings about the way and manner the viral video is beginning to attract sympathy to the school.
He demanded to know why both the local and state government would have to wait till the little girl vented her anger before the school would get the necessary attention despite its obvious sorry state over the years.
“The late Okotie Eboh who founded the school around 1960 must be very angry with its sorry state now from wherever he’s seeing it. The zinc in the open roofs portions are blown off from time to time,” he stated.
Another resident, Mrs. Margret Atare, mother of five children who passed through the Okotie Eboh Primary School, who had lived her life close to the school premises, described the reactions by government as cheap political point.
She noted that for decades, both pupils and teachers have been exposed to harsh learning environment due to the poor state of the school.
“Why are they (government) pretending they are not aware of the deplorable state of these schools? The issue of the sorry state of this place (pointing to the school) didn’t just start today. We, as parents have over the years approached the appropriate government ministry to come to our rescue but all our appeals have fallen on deaf ears,” she stated.
A staff of the school who pleaded anonymity, tried to justify the action of the school authority in levying the pupils.
She based her argument on the fact that following the neglect of the school by successive governments and the fact that the teachers and pupils needed to study in a conductive environment, they had to resort to self help by tasking the parents through levies in order to be able to cope.
“The poor state of the school and the danger it poses to pupils explain why the scholarship awarded by the Sapele Local Government chairman, Mr. Eugene Inoaghan, to Success on account of her viral video, was not so much appreciated by the majority of residents who believe its just another face-saving charity.
“They are of the opinion that until they see government awarding contract for the rehabilitation of the school and the contractors move to site, they would not take government gesture and concern seriously,” she said.
STATE GOVERNMENT BIG HAMMER
True to his words, education commissioner, Mr. Ebie, paid a fact finding visit to the school on Monday, March 18, 2019, and after establishing a case of over levying ordered the suspension of headteacher of Okotie Eboh Primary School 1, Mrs. Vero Igbigwe.
Sources said Governor Okowa who was embarrassed by the development had directed investigation into claims that school fee was being collected in the said public school, those responsible for the charges, as well as officials who supervised the collection and remittance.
Already the viral video had stirred controversy at the headquarters of State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) and Ministry of Basic Education over claims that several public schools under the watch of top state government officials in Asaba have been embroiled in school fees/levy scam as well as teachers posting and transfer scandal.
The Education Report learnt that Governor Okowa have been inundated with series of claims and petitions concerning the shady deals ongoing in most public schools, particularly primary schools in the state involving Local Government Education Secretaries in various council areas and officials of ministry of basic education, Post Primary Education Board (PPEB) and SUBEB.
But the education commissioner whose job may also be on the line over the huge embarrassment the issue had caused the state, said he has been inundated with messages and calls primarily over the state of infrastructure of the school as well as the unauthorised levies and fees unilaterally imposed by the school which led to Success’ being sent home.
Ebie, who our source said has been penciled down among the commissioners that would be shown the exit door when Governor Okowa constitutes his second term cabinet, denies culpability for the illegal levies being imposed in public schools in the state.
According to him, by virtue of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) Act, education at the basic education level is free.
“It, therefore, means that the head teacher of the school had no right to impose any levy or fees on the pupils of her school,” he said.
According to him, during an interview session with the head teacher, there appeared to be numerous inconsistencies in her response as she was unable to categorically state who authorized her to impose the levies or fees which is in clear breach of the extant rules.
Speaking on the state of the infrastructure, he said it is important to clarify that Okotie Eboh Primary Schools I and II, Sapele exist in two locations in the same neighborhood and within a minute’s walk of each other.
“It is important to place on record and for the avoidance of doubt that the contract of the first phase was awarded on December 29th, 2018 and work has since commenced,” he added.
Ebie further stated that since the inception of the administration, the state government through the ministry of basic and secondary education and its parastatals have carried out the construction/renovation of 4,738 classrooms in addition to rehabilitating and repositioning the six technical colleges in the state.
REACTIONS TRAILS GOVERNMENT SUSPENSION ORDER
Meanwhile, the suspension of the head teacher has continued to generate mix reactions.
Chief Collins Okorie, an Anambra State indigene, who has lived in Warri all his life, wondered at the rationale behind the state government suspension of the head teacher, when it had been established that it was as a result of successive government’s failure to act by upgrading the school that prompted the present situation.
“The state government did not do well by this decision to suspend the head teacher, when there were still a lot of issues to be addressed, if truly the government was sincere about upgrading the standards of education in the state”.
“Look around and you will discover we still have so many schools where children are learning in a terrible state than that Okotie Eboh Primary School, Sapele, and the government has not shown any sign of seriousness in upgrading them”.
“Is it because a small intelligent girl (referring to Success Adegor) had succeeded in exposing government lapses concerning her school in the social media, that the officials are running up and down, looking for who to blame for their inefficiency,” he stated.
Mrs. Rosemary Onoriode, a parent and petty trader along Ekpan road in Uvwie Local Government Area, lamented the growing rate of extortions through illegal levies by authorities in government schools in the state, blaming the officials of the ministry of education who have allowed this go on for such a very long time.
“The decision to suspend the head teacher of Okotie Eboh Primary School 1, over the illegal levies imposed on pupils that led to Success Adegor’s plight of being driven from school was a welcome development, as it would serve as a warning to other school management who are in the habit of extorting parents by imposing illegal levies on pupils.
“The only issue I have with this sanction was the timing. Government officials, especially those directly involved with educational development should not wait till we have such an embarrassing situation like Success Adegor’s case before acting on how to improve the standards of our education and bringing sanity to the system.”
Mr. Eric Esimaje, an educationist and school proprietor in Warri, blamed government officials for the rots in the education sector in the state, adding that it has been a usual practice for them to look for ‘escape goat’ that would be used to shift attention away from the main whenever they are in such an embarrassing situation.
According to him, “government officials are quite aware of some of these levies in government schools and in fact monies from these illegal levies are being remitted to some of them in Asaba. It is unfortunate that the head teacher of Okotie Eboh Primary School 1, Sapele, Mrs. Igbigwe, is the one that must bear the burden for the ‘can of worn’ being exposed by Success Adegor’s viral video”.
From every indication, it appears the Success Adegor’s virally video is bringing positive changes in the educational reform of Delta State. But we just need to wait and see what would be the government next line of action going forward.
The Warri South Local chapter of Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) has urged the Delta State government not to deal in “isolatio” with Mrs. Vero Igbigwe, head teacher of Okotie Eboh Primary School, over the alleged collection of illegal levies.
Reacting to the issue, the NUT insist that all parties involved in the illegal collection of levies and fees in public schools should be brought to justice.
The chairman of the Warri South chapter of NUT, Mr. Confidence Ikuejawa stated the union’s position, adding the illegal collection of levies was done in collaboration with persons from different quarters.