Kokodiagbene is a community in the coastal Gbaramatu Kingdom under the Warri South-West area of Delta State. Despite being an oil producing community, host to Chevron Nigeria Limited, Kokodiagbene as well as other communities in the Gbaramatu area are plagued with the dearth of learning infrastructures and social amenities such as drinkable water. But more importantly, the absent of teachers and their inadequacy tend to pose a huge challenge to quality education to pupils and students in the community. In this interview, DONATUS AKPO UKULI ESQ, a former secretary of the community, and presently, the Education Committee Chairman, speaks on the challenges the community is facing as regards education. Excerpts:

➡️ Introduction

My name is Donatus Akpo Ukuli Esq. I am the privileged chairman of the Kokodiagbene Education Committee in Kokodiagbene Town, Gbaramatu Kingdom, Warri South-West local government area of Delta State.

➡️ What is education like in the riverine areas, in general terms?

Education in the riverine areas, in general terms, is an eye sore because adequate attention has not been given to education in the riverine areas of Delta State. Those riverine local governments in the State are local government that has a voting strength that can give a reasonable number of votes to any incoming governor during polls. In other words, the highest number of votes come from the riverine local government yet the things we are supposed to benefit have not gotten to us the way they ought to be.

➡️ Over the years there has been the issue of absenteeism of teachers in government-owned schools in the riverine areas. What do you think is responsible for this attitude and how, in your opinion, can this issue be addressed?

Yes, over the years there has been the issue of absenteeism of teachers in government-owned schools in the riverine areas. That is a fact that cannot be denied. It is obvious, it is clear. The blind can see it, even the deaf can hear about it. Those in authority will put their daughters or children or sons there; after putting them there they will transfer them to other places; or they will tell them not to come here at all, that they cannot swim or if they go there the river will swallow them; that there are big waves here, or how will they be able to enter boat to cross river; even those in authority will spoil the mind of those that ought to come here. Because they do ‘Kill and Divide’ they will put people there assuring them that their names are there and so they should go and do something else, that at the end of the month when the salary comes they share it. That is how they have been treating us. They have not been fair to us, those in authority.

So, in order to overcome this teachers’ absenteeism from schools in the riverine areas, let the government employ those resident in those areas, the indigenes in those areas,  let them be employed to do the work — it is the same teach they are going t teach. Those that have NCE, those that are B.Sc. holders, let them be employed to do the teaching work in those areas because the issue of teachers absenteeism is something that we cannot bear any longer.

If you go to the schools in the riverine area, you will see that by the time you go through the employment list of those teachers posted to those places, you will see that they are 10 or eight, but on ground you will see maybe two or one. Then the community will continue to employ teachers to do the work. The community cannot do it. How long can the community do it? So, the best thing is to employ people from that area to do the work of the teaching so that the burden will be less on the community. The community cannot afford to pay teachers.

➡️ With emphasis on schools in Kokodiagbene, it is to our knowledge that the community engages teachers privately for the government-owned schools as well as finance the feeding of students in its secondary boarding school. Who are the sponsors or where do the community derives funds from to sponsor these activities?

Yes, with emphasis on schools in Kokodiagbene, it is understood that the community employ community support teachers to teach in the government-owned schools which ought not to be so because it is the responsibility of the government to provide education. Education is one of the basic things the government is expected to provide for its citizens, yet the Delta State government failed in that area in the sense that they don’t do employment. At the end of the year, you see some will retire, some will die, some will be incapacitated; some cannot even know where they are posted to until maybe they will get retired because the names too, they don’t even know about the names and where those places are sited, so how will they go to those places they don’t know.

The community took it upon itself to employ teachers to do that work. The sponsorship of the payment of those teachers is borne by the community which is a load. You can see that because the community cannot afford to pay teachers, they will owe the teachers four to five months. That is an aberration. It is unfair, even as a human let’s think about it. You’re working in somewhere, you’re married with a family, and you’ve not been paid your salaries for five to six months, how will you be able to cope? So, I will say that this issue of employment of community-support teachers should be terminated because, how does the community have money to afford that is something that I cannot explain. It’s just God that has been providing all these money we have been using to pay teachers.

On the issue of where do the community derives funds from to sponsor these activities, it is within the community and some good-spirited individuals. I know, like the chairman of Kokodiagbene community, Amb. Pedro Bekenawei, has spent his personal money in payment of teachers. Maybe, in a month, he spends one million two hundred and something thousand naira to pay teachers and from there you have to feed the students in the hostel as well. So, it is not easy and it is really biting hard on the community. So the community cannot afford it. The best thing is for the government to employ teachers from the area to do the work that this community employs teachers to do.

➡️ You recently embarked on some visits to education authorities of primary and secondary schools in Warri South-West. Can you say those visits achieved their objectives?

Yes, we did that just to inform them that the work the teachers are employed to do, they are not doing it. We went there to lay a complaint and to inform them officially. I think those visits brought some positive results in the sense that they told us, particularly, the Secretary to the Local Education Authority, Mr, Tuoyo, that the best way to overcome this absenteeism of teachers from the schools is to employ the locals, people resident in that area. So I think there is a positive result on that.

➡️ What can you say about the EGCDF-Chevron sponsored scholarship which has remained inadequate to meet the academic needs of both pupils and students alike?

It is obvious! Over 15 years this payment of scholarship has remained between N20, 000k and N100, 000k which is not adequate. Now, children who are in KG or primary, their fees is up to N30, 000k and N50, 000k in some schools in Warri, not to talk of other places in Delta State. But you’re paying a student N20, 000k; we know it’s a palliative or a support that Chevron is giving to our people, but they should look at it; the money is not enough. The money should be reviewed upwardly.

Also, the number of scholarships awarded to the host communities is inadequate. How can you continue to offer 15 slots of scholarship to secondary school students. In the last distribution of scholarship, we find it very hectic. There were internal and external crisis in the committee during the distribution process because many persons have interest for these things. The number is not adequate and should be reviewed upwardly to see that it accommodate a reasonable number of the community.

Then again, my advice to parents who desire to get this scholarship, is that, if you can buy a bag of rice and another person can afford to buy a cup of rice, I think the scholarship should go to someone that can afford that one cup of rice. Those that can buy one bag of rice should leave the scholarship for those that cannot buy the bag of rice. It is not something that we will use to build a house or we will use to train our children; the scholarship is just a support to see that the students go to school or those that cannot afford to pay their children’s school fees, their children are able to go to school. It is not something that they will pay you, maybe your fees is N200, 000k and then you will use that money to pay the fees, no, it is just a support that the oil company is doing as a corporate social responsibility, just to keep their relationship with the community. So, my advice to parents is to bear with the education committee in the distribution of scholarship.

➡️ Asides the lack of learning infrastructures and lack of teachers in riverine schools, what other non-academic challenges are pupils and students facing in the creeks and what is your candid advice to the government and other stakeholders as regards the myriads of challenges facing education in the creeks?

The myriad of challenges facing education in the riverine areas are unquantifiable; very many things that schools are lacking in the riverine areas. For instance, the sick bay is not there. No adequate means of transportation, no adequate sporting facilities, no better equipped laboratory like those schools in the upland areas of Warri and environs. I think the government should look into the issue of health like the sick bay should be provided in our schools, then sporting facilities because you cannot separate sports from education. And so, sporting facilities should be made available for students in the riverine areas.

➡️) Are there any other issues we should know about the state of education in the creeks?

Yes, there are other issues we need to know about the state of education in the creeks. For instance, Kokodiagbene Secondary School, the only boarding school in the coastal areas of Delta State is in Kokodiagbene community. I think that school needs government attention in the sense that government has built two hostels, one male and one female. Those hostels should be fenced, then adequate electricity supply should be given those hostels, then pipe-borne water should be given to them, and then again, the government should provide security for the hostels.

All these will create a conducive environment for learning and serve as a means of employment, for instance, if you employ security, hostel master and mistress, are a means of job creation. Government should do all these things to see that education is acceptable or is encouraging because if the facilities are there people would be encouraged to go to school. So I think government should look into those areas. Thank you.

NOTE: First published March 10, 2022

#penglobalcommunity #Kokodiagbene