IMOKE's GOVT KILLING EDUCATION IN CROSS RIVER—APC

 All Progressives Congress [APC] has again berated the PDP led government of
Senator Liyel Imoke over what it called ‘’the gradual killing of the
educational system in the state’’ following the alleged imposition of heavy
taxation on owners of private schools in the state by the state government.
The party also decried the non-payment of salary arrears to staff of the
state owned University, Cross River University of Technology [CRUTECH] as
well as the total neglect of the institution resulting in the ongoing
strike by staff of the university.
It accused the PDP government of ‘’denying the teeming youth especially
secondary school leavers in the state the opportunity of accessing higher
education within the state.’’
A statement from the office of the National Vice Chairman, South South of
APC, Prince Hilliard Eta and endorsed by his Special Adviser, Media and
Publicity said ‘’the four month old strike by the Academic Staff Union of
Universities [ASUU] and other related unions in CRUTECH following non-
payment of salaries and other fringe benefits by the state government was
another demonstration by the PDP government of its anti-people and
hegemonic posture regarding issues of public concern.’’
The APC statement said ‘’the PDP government is Cross River has a penchant
for neglecting issues of public concern .Of course these are hegemonists
whose stock in trade is to destroy what benefits the generality of the
public while they pave way for their cronies and a few cabal members to
succeed using resources from the common patrimony.’’

According to the opposition party ‘’we have it on record that CRUTECH
staff are still being owed about five months salary arrears as well as
other earned allowances warranting the ongoing strike by the staff. We are
aware that this PDP government has refused to release over N50million for
the upgrading of facilities at CRUTECH and that the subvention to the
institution has since remained at a paltry N169 million. We also hear that
because of poor funding of the university, the National Universities
Commission[NUC] has threatened to withdraw the partial accreditation of the
university’s programmes and that over twenty programmes offered by the
institution are not accredited.’’
‘’What we deduce from this development is that the PDP government is
running a hegemony, an exclusive government that has an anti-people posture
and that do not care about public interest.
‘’Is it not the same government that would quickly release funds for the
Calabar Christmas Festivities so that our young girls will become
prostitutes and the young men become miscreants and nuisance to society. Is
it not the same PDP government that will allocate votes to SERMATECH for
the construction of failed roads and fly-overs and walkways? It is the same
PDP government that would want to strangulate education in the state by
failing to provide adequate funding for emolument, facilities upgrade and
accreditation processes in the state owned varsity.’’

The party described as ‘’crazy and out of this world’’ the about 1000%
increment in the renewal fee for private school owners in the state stating
that the development was killing the educational progress of the state.

‘’For the state government to have the audacity to increase the renewal
fee for private school owners in the state to such a height that is crazy
and out of this world is not only appalling in a state that is arguably the
cradle of education in Nigeria and where free education is possible but an
attempt to kill the educational sector like other sectors which have become
moribund under its [the PDP government’s] watch.’’
According to the statement,’’ even though international economic concerns
like the Debt Relief International [DRI] have suggested sub-national
economies up their internal revenue strategy to raise funds for projects
where huge debt outlay holds sway, certain sectors of the political
economy need not be interfered with in terms of imposing heavy tax regime.
Education is one such sector that government must accord priority, but alas
what we witness today in that sector is bastardizing and shocking.’’
‘’We got wind of the increment in the renewal fee charged private school
owners by the state government; we gathered that while owners of private
Nursery and Primary schools were asked to pay N100,000 from initial
N10,000,those who own Secondary schools were asked to pay an outrageous
N200,000 from the initial N20,000 there were paying. What this means as a
multiplier effect is that parents would be compelled to pay higher for education [school fees on] on account of the increase by the owners. Unfortunately too this is happening even when the economy has been so bastardized that Cross Riverians nay Nigerians hardly make headways.

Most of them who are commoners may be forced to take their wards out of school
and then you’ll have another army of social miscreants holding the peace of
the society to the jugular.’’
The party emphasized that the establishment of the Institute of
Management and Technology by the PDPD government was meaningless when the
government has clearly shown that it has no clear cut policy to revamp the
education sector and provide adequate funding to guarantee quality and
compulsory education for the citizenry.
The statement accused the PDP government of running the state as a
hegemony explaining that ‘’what the officials are only interested in is the
opportunity to enrich themselves, their children and their cronies who are
offered special opportunities abroad using state finances.’’
The statement urged Cross Riverians to resist the temptation of voting
the ‘’ PDP hegemonists’’ in the coming election, if they must come out of
‘’this obnoxious tendency.’’