By Austin Ogwuda
Embattled Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education in Delta State, Nigeria,
Mrs. Rose Ezewu has claimed that the whole hullabaloo about the alleged portrait deal against her was merely cooked up by some of the School Principals she stopped from extorting students and parents immediately she assumed office.
Ezewu disclosed that some of these corrupt School Principals and CIEs were working hand in hand extorting students and parents collecting the sum of between N40,000 to N80,000 for admission into public schools before she came and blocked it.
Reacting to the grave allegation in the media accusing her of merchandising with the governor’s portrait she described it as laughable.
Said she, “The extortion that I was fighting against, that is why some principals and teachers are fighting back. I do not take rubbish from anyone. You cannot be taking N40,000 and N80,000 for admission, when I storm the schools involved, some teachers would rather not work, they come to school as they like.
“Most principals are after extorting students and parents, I stop this illegality, they start ranting and kicked against it. It is expected that any school any principal or teacher finds his or herself is to build and impact knowledge on the students and not extort them.I have demoted some principals and teachers that were involved in this illegality.
“The State Government”, she went on, “understands there are challenges, that is why it approved Parents Teachers Association, PTA.
“The Principals know the right admission the previous administration approved, a stipulated amount. I am totally against extortion”, she stated.