Ebe Says he Rebuild, Maintains SEB Facility in Calabar after 45 years Neglect
The Executive Chairman, Secondary Education Board (SEB) Calabar, Dr. Idagu Ebe says he has up graded and maintained SEB facility neglected and abandoned by previous administrations for 45 years with his personal money.
He spoke with newsmen in Calabar at the end of teachers verification exercise in the Southern Senatorial District where 70 ghost teachers were discovered.
The chairman said that about five years ago when he assumed office in SEB, he observed that the facility was in utter disrepair, neglected, no maintenance culture resulting in decaying condition of facilities. He said this is gross exhibition of absence of patriotism.
According to the University don, SEB faculty was in shambles from the entrance gate and it upsets one’s sensibility. The UNICAL Don further said that the infrastructures were dilapidated with ruined roofing sheets and rocking stairs.
His words “I was disturbed when I assumed office here and that because I wanted to leave an indelible legacy for posterity, I began to upgrade the faculty”.
“There was no Impress for my office even up till now to run the affairs of the board. I also do not have an official car. The work executed here is from my personal money and it runs into millions of naira”.
“The chairman’s office has been renovated, doors and windows replaced. The roof here and some offices in the Board were leaking and valuable document destroyed.”
“Governor Ayade was very happy when he visited the Board recently. He expressed satisfaction with the facelift given to SEB and wondered where the money for the renovation came from when there was no impress to my office yet”.
“Yes, we are collecting one thousand naira each from the teachers for documentation process, eight documents and photocopies from each teacher. This exercise is approved by the governor who had wanted it to commence in the month of March 2020 but delayed because of Covid-19 pandemic. The exercise is in collaboration with Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Auditor General of the state and All Nigerian Conference of Principals of Secondary School (ANCOPSS).”
The chairman further said “This is the best exercise ever conducted by the Board. About 70 ghost teachers were uncovered. Teachers retire monthly while some die but the wage bill continues to rise”.
“Some teachers recruited in 2005 were still in service with statement of results. Some of them with the Higher National Diploma (HND) and without the Post Graduate Diploma (PGD) in Education were made Principals”.
Dr. Ebe revealed that at the end of the exercise in the three senatorial districts, the board will commence the recruitment of one thousand teachers in Sciences, Geography, Commerce and English Language to fill the vacant positions of those who retired or left the service.