Abia begins recovery of public schools formally under individuals, churches

Abia State Government has moved to retrieve all government-owned schools previously handed over to churches and individuals to manage.

The State Government argued that some of the schools handed over to churches and individuals that were initially identified as original owners, by former Governor Theodore Orji, in 2011, were badly run.

The state government said that the Churches and individuals breached not only the agreement which handed over the schools to them, but went ahead in selling off the lands and mismanaging the schools.

Uche Ukeje, director general, Greater Aba Development Authority (GADA), in an interview with journalists in Aba, stated that the government would leave no stone unturned to recover all the schools and properties wrongfully sold or unduly handed over to missions and individuals.

Ukeje, who is a member of the Abia State School Recovery Committee, explained that the missions and individuals mismanaged the schools, by engaging unqualified teachers, selling off lands and abandoning the schools.

Consequently, new principals have been appointed to resume work immediately in the affected schools, which are reported to be over 200.

Government also announced a seven-day transition period to allow the current authorities to hand over all school properties and records to the newly appointed principals.

Ukeje added that when the recovery duties are completed, in line with government directives, nobody will come close to government’s property, much less buying them without government’s consent.

He announced that over 200 schools within Abia State that were handed over to mission and individuals, by previous administrations in the state are currently facing challenges of either being outrightly sold off to individuals or had parts of its land sold to estate developers.

The GADA boss also explained that the act of selling schools handed over to them, was against government policy, noting that the intention of government at that time was to provide quality education for Abia’s children.

“We’ll ensure henceforth, that nobody tampers with Abia State Government properties, not to talk of buying them. The missions and individuals have breached the agreement on which the schools were handed over to them.

“In fact, the government that handed the schools to them was supposed to review their performance in the agreement within one year, but this didn’t happen.”

Reacting specifically about the case of Willcox Memorial Comprehensive Secondary School, Aba, where the church allegedly transferred ownership of the school to an individual, Ukeje said that their case is not different from others and is being treated just like others.

Read also: How government takeover of mission schools destroyed morals in Nigeria – Rev. Akanji

When a team of the Abia State School Recovery Committee went to the school Thursday, to serve the management of Wilcox School the seven-day transition letter, the management led by Acho Nwakanma, a former deputy governor of Abia State, denied receiving any letter of invitation on the matter.

Ukeje however, told journalists that nobody was exempted from all initial letters and invitation on the matter, stressing that anyone trying to play politics with the recovery process has something to hide, as the aim of government is to ensure that public facilities are properly managed for the good of all.

He explained that principals and heads have been appointed in the affected schools, like Wilcox, adding that the current authorities are by the letters, expected to handover every necessary thing to the new management appointed by the government.

While answering questions on alleged political witch-hunt, Ukeje said that the assignment is happening all over the three senatorial zones, adding that no school would be left out in the recovery exercise.

“Nobody has the right to sell government property. All necessary invitations have been sent to both schools and churches. Nobody will claim ignorance of the ongoing mission. People need to avoid buying government properties without the consent of the government.

“Let nobody get it twisted. This is a duty for the betterment of Abia State. All the affected schools are documented for you to verify that this is not a move targeted at anyone,” he stated.