Group Blasts Enugu Lawmakers Over Cancellation Of Teachers Recruitment

Posted by African Examiner Featured, Latest Headlines, News Across Nigeria, News From The State Tuesday, September 27th, 2016

By Ignatius Okpara, Enugu

ENUGU, NIGERIA (AFRICAN EXAMINER) – A Youth group, under the aegis of Enugu Youth League, has berated members of the State House of Assembly for annulling the recently concluded teachers’ recruitment exercise in the state.

AFRICAN EXAMINER recalled that the exercise was nullified by the state House of Assembly over series of complaints and alleged shoddy conduct by the handlers, the Enugu state Universal Basic Education Board (ENSUBEB).

Speaking with the newsmen in Enugu weekend, the group’s Coordinator, Comrade Chris Madu, said the House erred by nullifying the exercise by relying solely on the statement of the Permanent Secretary, Mrs. Rose Chiama, who told the lawmakers that members of the Board were not carried along in the exercise.

Chiama had told the lawmakers that the ENSUBEB Chairman Mr. Ikeje Asogwa did not carry the board members along in the recruitment exercise.

Asogwa’s explanations that the exercise was well conducted, as the Governor and some members of the House of Assembly were privy to the exercise fell on deaf ears.

However, Madu who wondered why the lawmakers never deemed it fit to invite other members of the board, said there were indications that the lawmakers acted based on some selfish interests.

“The anger of the lawmakers, from our findings, might not be unconnected with the refusal of the board to accept the list of applicants they presented to the board, despite the fact that such persons failed the examination woefully.

“I want to first of all commend the Governor of Enugu State, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, for taking the bull by the horn to embark on recruitment of primary school teachers, not minding the economic difficulties in the country in which some State Governors are unable to pay workers’ salaries.

“This is a clear case that the Governor is not ready to play politics with the destiny of Enugu children and the unemployed in the state.

The group posited that teaching job should not be for dull brains.

“We are mindful of the fact that the reason for conducting the screening and examination test for the intending teachers was to ensure that the best candidates emerged.

“To this extent, we wonder why the House would expect that there should be no complaint from those who failed.

“It is a normal process that when people fail examination, they must either blame the teacher or the invigilator.

“If the intention of the lawmakers was genuine, they would have gone further to invite other members of the board and directors to ascertain what happened”, he stated.

“The ENUSBEB placed announcement on radio for almost two weeks calling on the applicants to read and prepare for their exams and that they should not pay anybody a dime to secure the employment as the board would be thorough in the exercise.

“So if some applicants refused to heed the advice and warning of the board not to pay the employment racketeers, would you then blame the Chairman for their failures or commend him for being thorough?

“Is it that the House wants a situation whereby those who failed the teachers’ recruitment exams would be made to pass before they would agree that the exercise was wonderfully conducted while our public schools will be filled with dullards, whereas their children are in private schools where they make sure proprietors employ only the best teachers to teach them?

“We are aware that contrary to what the Permanent Secretary told the House, all the directors and board members were not just carried along in the exercise, but took part in the interview process.

“Our findings show that the Permanent Secretary supervised the examination at Ekulu Primary School, where applicants from Igbo-Eze South, Igbo-Eze North and Ezeagu local government areas wrote the test. She equally conducted interview for Nkanu West and Nkanu East.

“In addition, some of the lawmakers, including Hon. John Bull Nwagu, Hon. Paul Nnajiofor and Hon. Tony Ogidi, Hon. Ezeani Ezenta, Hon. Ethel Ugwuanyi all participated in the exercise.

“We, therefore, condemn the action of the lawmakers in its entirety, for opposing the process merely because their relations and cronies failed to scale through the exercise.

“We call on the House to put the interest of the people at heart, the monies spent on the exercise, the fate of those who originally passed the exams and the negative implications the cancellation would cause to the state.

“They should not be a clog in the wheel of progress in our dear State.”