Paul Osuyi, Asaba

His appearance caused a stare. Attached to his body-fitted grayish suit were placards of various inscriptions. The multiple placards conveyed messages against the evil of examination malpractice and extortion in schools.

With this kind of weird appearance at Governor Street, Asaba, Delta State, Mr. Carl Ofonye caught the figure of a lone ranger, and one-man riot squad. His mission to the Exams and Standards Office of the state Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education was clear: Ofonye was on a peaceful protest to the office with a view to drawing government’s attention to alleged large scale cheating during examinations as well as secret extortion of poor pupils by a cartel of critical stakeholders within the education system in the state.

Despite the rains, residents in the neigbhourhood gathered to catch a glimpse of the strange protester. But the one man gang whose passion for education could be foretold was determined to press home his demand.

Some inscriptions on the placards read: ‘I want our school system to produce competent professionals that can serve humanity well, not harming the society’, ‘Deltans, protect our future generation from destruction by corrupt officials who aid and abet exam malpractices.

‘Teachers in Delta State are paid promptly monthly by Governor Ifeanyi Okowa to teach our children, not to help them pass exam through cheating’, ‘members of the media, please save me and school from the hammers of corrupt education officials.’

For Mr. Ofonye, proprietor in one of the private schools at Okpanam, Oshimili North Local Government Area of the state, the act of examination malpractice could no longer be condoned by the system.

He claimed that the secret act which is being orchestrated by top ministry officials in collusion with some leaders of private school proprietors must be stopped in order to protect the state government good intentions and investments in education.

Ofonye who is the chairman of National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) in Oshimili North LGA, said his unwavering stand against exam malpractices has marked him out for vilification and victimisation.

He alleged that on three occasions, a combined force of the state leadership of NAPPS and some officials at the Ministry of Basic Education and Secondary had unsuccessfully attempted to sack him as chairman of the union in the locality because of his “uncooperative” nature.

Ofonye narrated some of his experiences with the education stakeholders during the conduct of BECE also known as Junior WAEC in the past three years.

“In 2016, I was in Warri when the principal of my school called me on phone that some persons at the examination centre were demanding certain fees to settle mercenaries and that it was only candidates from my school that were yet to comply.

“I immediately warned him not to pay a dime to anybody because I trust my candidates will perform well in the exams without any external assistance as a result of the culture of hard work which we have developed over the years.

“After our conversation, I called the then Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Chkedu Ebie to report the issue, and he appealed to me not to ring the alarm bell, that he was dispatching external officials to the centre, which he actually did,” he said.

The school proprietor said the modus operandi of the cartel is to collect money from candidates which they use to settle mercenaries most of who are teachers from public schools, to solve examination questions for pupils at the various compliant centres.

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He alleged that this is done with the complicit knowledge of the state leadership of the union and top officials of the ministry, who get their respective cuts from the illegal monies raised from the candidates.

Ofonye added that on exam days, particularly in the case of Mathematics, the mercenaries solve the questions on a carbon paper and place it on the board in front of the classroom for the candidates to copy into their answer booklets as fast as possible, before the arrival of external supervisors.

“This has been going on since 2016 when my school started producing candidates for the BECE or Junior WAEC, and I have been complaining to no avail because the practice is highly institutionalised,” he stated.

As a result, the school proprietor and union leader called for the removal of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, and the Chief Inspector of Education (CIE) in charge of Oshimili North Local Government Area.

He further called for the cancelation of the BECE examination at Oruchi Comprehensive Secondary School, Okpanam and a fresh examination organised for all the students at the centre where a level playing field will be the order of the day.

In an open letter to Governor Okowa, Ofonye indicted the two officials for allegedly indulging in acts capable of derailing the good intentions and huge investment of the Delta State helmsman in the education sector in the last four years.

Ofonye alleged that the two officers had been supporting large-scale examination malpractices and also involved in collection of illegal fees from students in secondary schools in the state contrary to the state government’s positions on the issues.

He said the two officials have not relented despite the punishment meted out publicly to some erring school heads by the state government for their involvement in collection of illegal fees as exposed by the little Miss Success Adegor scandalous video.

“It was on record that the then commissioner who is now the current SSG, Mr. Chiedu Ebie took the decision to sanction some school heads because of established facts that they engaged in acts at variance with Okowa’s vision and mission to lessen the burdens of the poor parents and guardians of students in the state,” he lamented.

The duo (Permanent Secretary and CIE, Oshimili North), he further alleged are also involved in aiding and abating exam malpractices and other forms of fraud in the state.

He further claimed that his stand against the unwholesome practices in the education sector has now mapped him out for destruction by these two persons and others, including the president of NAPPS, Delta State involved.

Adding that the one man protest was to draw the attention of the governor to the anomaly and to also let the world know the danger he is facing in the hands of identified persons and every one connected with the illegal activities.

On his part, a Director in the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education Dr. Moses Bragiwa while addressing the protester, urged him to furnish the ministry with more information in writing for further action.

But the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, Mr. Samuel Diatake dissociated the ministry from illegal collection of levies and examination malpractices.

Diatake described Ofonye’s allegations as baseless, unfounded and should be discountenanced by the general public, adding that the ministry and the state government have zero tolerance for illegal collection of fees and examination malpractice.