Cross River Governor Ben Ayade has suspended the Permanent Secretary of
the Ministry of Education Mrs. Anne Odey for banning devotion in schools in
the state.
Odey had written, last week, to all private and public schools at primary and
secondary levels across the state, suspending morning and afternoon
devotions.
The directive was said to have emanated from the Commissioner for Police
in view of security challenges facing the nation.
But the Security Adviser to Ayade, Jude Ngaji, told reporters in Calabar
yesterday that the Governor was not aware of such directive.
He added the Permanent Secretary didn’t pass such the directive through the
governor.
Ngaji said Ayade has directed immediate and indefinite suspension of the
Permanent Secretary.
The ban on devotions, he added, has also been lifted immediately.
According to the Security Adviser: “It is true that police got intelligence
information that Boko Haram were planning to bomb schools during morning
devotion and therefore directed authorities in Ministry of Education to act
fast.
“But the Permanent Secretary did not bother to revert to the governor or call
for stakeholders’ meeting to that effect.
”So, the governor feels pained that she got such sensitive information
without seeking for his advice and rather went ahead to issue a directive
suspending morning devotions in private and public schools.
”In the light of the above, the governor has directed that the Permanent
Secretary, Ministry of Education, Mrs. Anne Odey, be suspended forthwith
while the ban has been lifted immediately as there is no instruction to that
effect from the governor’s office.”
by ROTMANLUV 2023-07-08, 17:34
