The Akwa Ibom State Government through its Ministry of Education has launched an investigation into the state of boarding facilities in the Presbyterian Senior Science College, Ididep, and 25 other boarding secondary schools in the state.
The state Commissioner for Education, Mrs Idongesit Etiebet, also suspended the Principal of the school, Dr. Nse Sunday Umoh, pending the outcome of the investigation.
The investigation, which comes after a video surfaced online showing students of the Presbyterian Senior Science College, Ididep, eating eba (cassava flour) with watery soup in a despicable dining hall, will focus on hostels, dining halls, recreation areas, menu, kitchen, and sanitary facilities, and will be jointly overseen by the Permanent Secretaries of the Ministry of Education and the State Secondary Education Board, according to a press release signed by the Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Etiebet.
The video, which has gone viral, sparked public outrage, with many calling for an end to such atrocities against school children.
Human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, in a tweet via his handle (@InibeheEffiong) entitled “SOS: AKWA IBOM STATE GOVERNMENT SHOULD SAVE PSSSI”, said even dogs should not be fed with the food the students were being fed in the video.
“I am heartbroken by the attached horrifying video sent to me this morning by a fellow alumnus of Presbyterian Senior Science School Ididep (PSSSI), Ibom Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State,” Effiong said in the tweet on Friday, November 22.
“This video shows the despicable ‘food’ that students of the once prestigious school are being fed with. I’m alarmed by this sheer act of wickedness.
“If someone told me that PSSSI has deteriorated to this point, I wouldn’t have believed. This looks similar to what prisoners in Nigeria are fed with. Dogs should not be fed with this rubbish that I am seeing. The dining hall looks like a concentration camp.
“I have confirmed that the students are fed with a useless tea/bread as breakfast, the eyesore we are seeing in this video as lunch, and ‘stone rice that cooks cannot separate the sand’ as supper.
“I am calling on the State Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Idongesit Etiebet, the Chairman of the State Secondary Education Board, Dr. Ekaette Ebong Okon, and the Akwa Ibom State Government as a whole to urgently intervene and address this situation.
“I am also publicly calling on the Commissioner for Information, Comrade @IEmemobong and other government officials from the area to look into this matter.
“Even though I left PSSSI in my SS2 third term to pursue my law dream, it was one of the best secondary schools in the State at the time. We cannot allow our children to be dehumanized in this manner. It is unacceptable,” he tweeted.
In her press release on Saturday, the Commissioner for Education said even though the free education policy of the state Akwa Ibom State Government “covers tuition fees only and not boarding fees, the welfare and dignity of all students, especially those in public schools, remain a priority of the Umo Eno-led administration”.
“We appeal to parents who have already been greatly relieved of the burden of tuition fees to undertake basic parental responsibilities to support their children in secondary schools.
“The Ministry is committed to ensuring that all public school facilities meet irreducible minimum standards that uphold the well-being of both learners and staff.
“We urge the public to remain patient while this investigation lasts. The Governor, Pastor Umo Eno remains unwavering in his commitment to education, as outlined in the ARISE Agenda,” she said.
