Righting wrongs of Abia locust years: Hypocrisy of some products of public schools

By Ctz. Ukoha Njoku Ukoha .

“If the Government took over Schools from the Missions and returned them to the Missions, there is nothing alien for the Government to take them Back Again” – Ctz. Ukoha Njoku

Mission and Church activities in Education across the territories today known as Nigeria started in 1842 but the Educational Ordinance Code of 1929 and 1948 marked the beginning of a common and unified education system in Nigeria.

In the South-East, the devastating effect of the civil war on pupils/students and mission schools underscored the need for the Government to take over Schools to effectively fund and exercise control over the highly strategic education sector.

An insight into the historical perspective of the locations of Mission Schools, the communities donated or were coerced to give up their lands for the establishment of Mission Schools. When the Government deemed it necessary to intervene and take over the management of mission Schools, they inherited the lands from the Mission Schools as public space. The ownership of Lands and public school spaces was reinforced by the Land Use Act of 1978, which bestowed the ownership of All Landed Properties on the State.

During the administration of ex-Governor T. A. Orji, the policy of returning public schools to the Missions and Churches was introduced. The Government handed back the schools and their spaces to willing Missions and Churches to manage as Mission Schools as it were. The Government did not sell the Schools and their spaces to the Missions and Churches. There was no provision for the Missions and Churches to sell or lease any part of the lands belonging to the Schools in the terms and conditions of the handover. The initiative was specifically for the Missions to take over the Schools for the sole purpose of managing them more effectively and efficiently. It was a subtle admission of failure by the then administration.

The resort by Missions and Churches to sell or lease the schools or any of her spaces handed over to them to run and manage as Schools is illegal and ab into null and void. The Missions and Churches have no authority to sell or lease public property and spaces handed over to them to manage as educational institutions.

If Communities can donate or be coerced to give up their lands for educational purposes, and the Government reserves the powers to take over and give back public Schools and spaces to Missions or individuals to run and manage as educational institutions, the Government can decide to retake the Schools and educational institutions. No mission, church, or individual has the right to sell or lease public property.

If the early Missionaries and Mission Schools were sold off or leased out, would the sellers, buyers, lessors, and lessees of the ex-Governor Ikpeazu era become products of public schools or have any public school to sell, buy, or lease?

If a church is given back a public school to run and manage and they discover that they cannot manage it, is it not proper and moral to return it to the Government rather than selling or leasing it out to private proprietors who convert it to market, plaza, hotel, warehouse, home or private school with exorbitant fees?

What is the fate of our educational system if public schools are sold off or leased out to private individuals? What would happen to our strategic education sector if public schools disappear? Have we considered the risk of allowing the private sector to control our educational system? What would happen if the private proprietors and owners of private schools decide to divest from the business?

Unfortunately, those who sold and bought public schools are products of public schools. How can people deliberately destroy the institution that moulded them only to turn around to covet or acquire them?

I am a product of the prestigious Wilcox Memorial Comprehensive Secondary School, Aba. How can such an Ivy League Secondary School be sold or leased to a man who was a former Deputy Speaker of Abia State House of Assembly, 2-time Deputy Governor, and supposedly elder statesman? What did he do to reposition the Schools as a high-ranking public official? Must public Schools be his private estate before he can make it effective and efficient? Why did he not push and convince his then In-law Governor to fix the Schools rather than coveting, leasing, or buying them as private estate?

Who is against the recovery of public schools by Governor Alex Otti? Did the person condemn the sale and lease of public schools by the past administrations? Was it right to sell, buy, or lease public schools? If it was wrong as we must all agree, is it not proper to right the wrongs of yesteryears? The Government deserves support and encouragement to sustain the recovery efforts to bring sanity and lost glory back to public schools. Wilcox Memorial Comprehensive Secondary School Old Boys Association is solidly behind the Governor and Government. They are desirous to partner with the Government to restore the lost glory of their darling alma-mata.

There is enough virgin land out there for anyone who wants to set up a private school. The impunity of using access to the Government to covet or buy public space must be discouraged. This will be a lesson for the greedy political class who has no respect for institutions and values. The public schools recovery task force set up by Governor Alex Otti must intensify efforts and fast-track the sealing and recovery of public schools and spaces shared, coveted, sold, or converted into private estates.

The public schools were handed over to the Missions and Churches to run and manage as Schools and not to sell or lease. No provision in the terms and conditions of the handover empowered any church or mission to sell or lease any part of the public school handed over to her. Thumb-up to Governor Alex Otti for the recovery policy, free tuition policy, rehabilitation, and retrofitting program to create a uniform public school structure, and the plan to make public schools functional and effective for learning.

Ctz. Ukoha, Chief Press Secretary to the Executive Governor of Abia State