Primary School Head Teachers in Ebonyi State numbering one hundred and
fifty that participated in the first batch of Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) capacity building project held in Ondo State have decried
the palpable extortion of over one million naira by the Universal
Basic Education Board (UBEB) Ebonyi State Desk Officer in connivance
with the Board local government areas Desk Officers.
247ureports.com correspondent gathered that prior to their trip of the
programme in Ondo State which was organized by the National Institute
for Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA); the participant
teachers each paid four thousand naira (N4. 000.00) to their various
local government areas Desk Officers which was expected to cover their
transport fare to and fro.
One of the teachers who spoke to our correspondent on ground of anonymity
explained that an alleged sum of six hundred thousand naira
(N600.000.00) was generated from the four thousand naira collected
from the one hundred and fifty teachers.
He added that apart from the four thousand naira collected from them
by the local government desk officers another three thousand naira was
collected from them by the state Desk Officer which amounts to four
hundred and fifty thousand naira (N450.000.00)
According to him, he alleged that a total of one million fifty
thousand naira was extorted from the one hundred and fifty primary
school teachers that participated in the programme for transportation
to and from Ondo state since the teachers he said paid a total of
seven thousand naira each.
The source said that the desk officers should account for the over one
million naira they extorted from them noting that it was the institute
that catered for their accommodation and feeding while the programme
lasted and wondered what their money was used for.
Our correspondent learnt that the teachers were expected to pay the
sum of three thousand six hundred naira to and from Ondo state, that
the plan to defraud them commenced with the local government desk
officers who collected four thousand naira but remitted three thousand
five hundred naira to the state desk officer.
Another teacher confided to our reporter that on their arrival to
Abakaliki after the programme that their transportation cost as
reflected on the receipt in possession of the state desk officer was
three hundred thousand naira (N300.000.00)
The teacher explained that apart from the four thousand naira they
paid to the local government desk officers that the three hundred
thousand naira by the one hundred and fifty teachers that participated
in the programme shows a total sum of four hundred and fifty thousand
naira but alleged that the state desk officer spent only three hundred
thousand naira on transportation to and from Ondo State. He challenged
the state desk officer to account for the unspent one hundred and
fifty thousand naira.
He described as fraudulent a situation whereby the local government
areas desk officers who did not attend the programme smile home with
more money out of the money they contributed than the teachers who
underwent the training in Ondo state. Some desk officers were said to
have gone home with over thirteen thousand naira while participants
went home with only eleven thousand naira.
When the Ebonyi State Universal Basic Education Desk Officer was
approached by the teachers for explanation, she was said to have told
the teachers that she was not accountable to them.
The first batch of the training which lasted from 26th-30th had
teachers drawn from seven local government areas of the state to
include: Ohaukwu, Ishielu, Ebonyi,Abakaliki,Izzi,Ivo and Afikpo local
government areas. Whereas, the second batch of teachers for the
programme left the state on Monday to Ondo State.
When the Ebonyi State acting Chairman of the Universal Basic Education
Board, UBEB, Mrs. Perpetual Elom was contacted for reaction on phone
she could not pick several calls put to her and did not reply text
messages sent to her phone.
