Delta Commissioner, Principals At War Over N20,000 Gov’s Portrait

Secondary school principals in Delta State and the commissioner for secondary education, Mrs Rose Ezewu, have disagreed over N20,000 meant to buy the governor’s portraits by each principal.

The principals have threatened to shut down schools unless the alleged imposed decision meant to rake in over N20 million from the 489 principals and 25 chief inspectors of education (CIEs) is reversed.

The commissioner was said to have constituted education monitoring taskforce team, led by one Tony Edah, to compel all principals in the state to pay the N20,000 on or before the end of the month for the governor’s portrait.

When contacted on phone, Ezewu neither picked her calls nor respond to messages sent to her contact.

According to sources, the monitoring taskforce team and the principals recently met at Osubi Grammar School where the issue was discussed and it was learnt that the commissioner has appointed one Israel Akpokeri in the ministry, to inform the principals and CIEs on the need to comply.

The matter degenerated to bad blood and fiasco when it was leant that Ezewu hurriedly set up the monitoring task force team without involving the ministry.

 “The governor’s photo and her own are compulsory for all public secondary schools at a cost of N20,000 each, targeted at a whooping sum of N20.560 million from 489 public secondary school principals and 25 CIEs in the state.”

The principals and the CIEs are to collect the governor’s portraits and that of the commissioner at the Ministry of Education after payment or face the wrath of the commissioner.

“I am directed to inform principals and CIES to collect the photograph of His Excellency and that of the HC secondary at the office of the honourable commissioner. This is to be placed in the CIES’ offices and all principals’ office,” Akpokeri stated.

Following this development, the taskforce team went into action, raiding schools to collect the said money from the school authorities, but with resistance from majority of the principals who were poised to fight to finish this time around, and paralyse this session’s academic activities.

Some of the principals who spoke yesterday but would not want their names printed for fear of being victimised by the commissioner, said, “Enough is enough, because the commissioner has been milking us since she returns in this second time on the ground that nothing would happen, after all.”

They also claimed that the commissioner had visited them at various times both in Ughelli, Warri and other places for her endless drive for incentives and that she is now moving from one CIEs office to another also expecting same entertainment from them.

She was said to be going round on familiarisation visit without being accompanied by the permanent secretary and director of the ministry but instead parading one Mr Israel Akpokeri as a director in the ministry, a development that infuriated the stakeholders who claimed that the Akpokeri is never a director in the ministry, or “let the commissioner show the world the department that Israel is heading.”

The principals called for the governor’s urgent intervention by investigating the matter with a view to righting the wrong.