Members To President, Duru, Time up..,Render Account Of Stewardship, Hand Over To Successor
The All Nigeria Confederation of Principals of Secondary schools in Imo State, comprising all Principals of Secondary Schools in the State, have called on the President, Duru to render account of his stewardship and hand over to a successor having retired from service in July, last year.
A Principal in one of the schools in Okigwe zone who simply identified himself as Chief Paschal Nnadi in a chat with this reporter, said, “the constitution of ANCOPPS permits a member of ANCOPSS executive at any level, state, zone or Local Government Area to remain in office for the next three months after which he/she is expected to tidy up and hand over formally to a successor. But in this case, Duru who retired in July last year has refused to vacate the seat for another person from Orlu zone where he comes from to complete whatever remains of his 4-year tenure as the President of ANCOPSS in Imo State. This is unfair”.
Speaking in the same vein, a Principal in one of the schools in Owerri zone who identified herself as Mrs Nnenna Egejuru, accused the Duru-led executive of ANCOPSS in Imo State of running the association as a personal estate where decisions are taken unilaterally without carrying the members along or rendering proper account of income and expenditure as and at when due?
A cross section of principals in the state, who pleaded anonymity, alleged that, “on assumption of office as the President of ANCOPSS Duru, inherited six vehicles comprising 3 Toyota Sienna cars which he connived with some members of his executive and sold without following due process. There was no open bidding as the transactions were shrouded in secrecy. At the end of the day, reports filtered out that they sold and bought the vehicles themselves”.
“The #500 ANCOPSS support levy that all students in government owned secondary schools pay every term, which runs into millions of naira, the #3000 that each principal was recently mandated to pay, among others have not been accounted for till date and there is practically nothing on ground to show for it except that Duru who started the building of a private school last year, is about to complete the project, in addition to a personal house that he is reportedly constructing in his hometown, which is also almost completed”.
Responding to a question, Deacon Ikenna Amadi, a member of ANCOPSS, said, “nobody is witch hunting anybody. What we are saying is that things should be done in line with the constitution of ANCOPSS, procedure and guidelines. If Duru vacates office today as advocated by well meaning members of ANCOPSS in Imo state, Orlu zone where he comes from will still bring somebody to complete his tenure after which it will be the turn of Okigwe zone and not even Owerri zone. From what I have just said, you will see that Duru and his co-travllers are just raising dust and accusing innocent people unnecessarily simply because they are saying the truth”.
Most Principals, including Mrs Billie Nwoko of Ikenegbu Girls Secondary School, that of Imo Girls Secondary School and another member of ANCOPSS executive who pleaded anonymity among several others, passed a vote of implicit confidence in the Executive Secretary, Secondary Education Management Board SEMB, in Imo State, Mrs Tina Azubuike who they commended for her transparency, zero tolerance for sharp practices and determination to sanitize the system. “Hence, those who benefitted from the corrupt status quo which she dismantled are bent on rubbishing her good works by fabricating all kinds of false hood that are neither here nor there just to tarnish her image”.
They also commended Mrs Tina Azubuike who they described as “an uncompromising Christian for sanitizing the system and for carrying out a very credible, transparent and result-oriented transfer that was based on merit without any monetary or financial inducement unlike in the past when transfer to some schools was determined by how much one could pay”.
Another commendable feat for which the current Executive Secretary is reportedly given kudos is the decisive step she took towards eradicating the falsification of service records and the refusal of some unscrupulous elements to retire after conniving with some questionable characters to falsify their service records to enable them remain in service longer than necessary. It was gathered that, “her determination, effort and uncompromising approach towards addressing the menace which went on for a very long time before she assumed office has made her to incur the wrath of those who perpetrated the criminal act. Hence they are doing everything they can to tarnish her image. But some of us who know the good work she is doing have been praying for her because light will always triumph over darkness”.
Some staff of SEMB who spoke to this reporter commended Mrs Azubuike who they described as God sent inspiring and motivational administrator who has stepped on many toes in the course of transforming the system in line with the mission and vision of the 3-R administration. Regrettably, those on whose toes she stepped on in her determination to do the right thing are doing everything they can to dent her image but they will not succeed. Our prayer is that God continues to protect and strengthen her”.
When contacted, the immediate past Secretary of ANCOPSS in Imo State, Dr Mrs Meneke, who worked very closely with Duru before she retired from service confirmed that a retired member of the executive should hand over after three months, she however said that in some cases people stay longer than 3 months, depending on when a suitable replacement is found.
She exonerated Mr Duru from all the allegations against him which she described as false, mischievous and unfounded, adding that one of the vehicles in question is in her compound, though, in very dilapidated condition.
“I have told them to come and tow it from here or tell me when and where to bring it because I am not using it”.
