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FG suspends sale of Unity Schools
September 22, 2007 | posted by Mobolaji Aluko (Archives)

THE NATION

FG suspends sale of Unity Schools        22/9/2007


Kamarudeen Ogundele, Abuja

In a major reversal of the reforms initiated by the for President Olusegun Obasanjo-led administration in education sector, the federal government has suspended the controversial Public-Private-Partnership Initiatives of the 102 Unity Schools.

It also suspended the activities of the Schools Management Organisations (SMOs) put in place for the management of the Unity Schools under the PPP arrangement.

The Minister of Education, Dr. Igwe Aja-Nwachuku, announced the federal government position yesterday in Abuja when he met with members of the SMOs. The SMOs had been granted provisional approval by the previous administration to manage and run the 102 Unity Schools.

Of the 102 Unity Colleges, 50 were conceded to the Pro-Unitate, an umbrella body of the old boys associations of the unity schools for management.

The minister told the aggrieved SMOs which appeared resolute that the "manner and rush" in which the PPP arrangement was put in place did not give room for consideration of wider views and ideas on how best the schools could be effectively and efficiently managed, even as the arrangement "threatened public interests".

While agreeing that the major problems of the unity schools is management which the PPP initiatives aimed at solving, he said the arrangement did not take into consideration the legal and technical frame-work nor defined percentage risk the SMOs should bear. "It was an open-ended agreement" the minister said.

He therefore said that the ministry would soon convoke a wider stakeholders meeting where views and ideas on the best management mode to run the unity schools would be arrived at.

TRIBUNE

Unity Schools :Yar’Adua Again Reverses Obasanjo

22.09.2007

The Federal Government has suspended the public-private-partnership initiative for the running of federal government colleges, the Federal Ministry of Education declared on Friday in Abuja.

The proposed sale of the Unity Schools was the idea of the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo. But since coming into power, President Umaru Yar’Adua has reversed several decisions taken by Obasanjo’s government, including the sale of the Port Harcourt and Kaduna refineries.

The Ministry of Education said in a statement that the activities of the School Management Organisations (SMOs) established in each of the federal government colleges had also been suspended.

The statement quoted the Minister of Education, Dr. Igwe Aja-Nwachukwu, as saying, “The manner and the way the PPP arrangement was put in place did not give room for wider views and ideas.”

Aja-Nwachukwu also said that the arrangement threatened public interests. The minister said that the PPP arrangement did not take into consideration legal and technical framework, nor defined the percentage of the risk the SMOs were to bear.

“It was an open-ended agreement,” he said. Aja-Nwachukwu assured that the ministry would soon convene a wider stakeholders’ meeting, where views and ideas on the best management mode to run the unity schools would evolve.

GUARDIAN

Govt suspends sale of unity schools • Says it’s threat to public interest

By Inalegwu Shaibu
Posted to the Web: Saturday, September 22, 2007

ABUJA — The Federal Government has suspended the controversial sale of the 102 federal government colleges claiming that such sale threatened the unity and stability that was sustained by its establishment.

Government has also put on hold the activities of the Schools Management Organization (SMO) which had been granted provisional approval by the previous administration to manage and run the schools.

Minister of Education, Dr. Igwe Aja-Nwachukwu who announced the position of the government in Abuja at a meeting with members of the SMO said the sale of the schools under the cover of the much-controversial Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) model was against the overriding interest of the Nigerian public.

He condemned the hasty nature of the transfer of ownership of the unity schools from government saying they did not fulfill the dreams and aspirations of the founding fathers.

He said, “The manner and rush in which the PPP arrangement was put in place did not give room for consideration of wider views and ideas on how best the schools could be effectively and efficiently managed, even as the arrangement threatened public interest.”

Agreeing that the unity schools are in terrible situations which need urgent attention, he said the PPP initiative which was meant to solve these problems was failing because the arrangement neither took into consideration the legal and technical frame-work nor defined the percentage risk the SMOs should bear.

“The PPP arrangement was an open-ended agreement. It lacked proper consultations and failed to address broad issues which are vital to its success.” he said.

Aja-Nwachukwu said government would soon convene a wider stakeholders meeting to seek for views and ideas on the best management mode to run the unity schools.

It will be recalled that the PPP arrangement amidst wide condemnation from the public and stakeholders in the education sector, was put in place by the former minister of education Dr. Obi Ezekwesili to address the decadence and falling standard of education in the unity schools.

LEADERSHIP
Saturday, September 22, 2007

FG Suspends Sale Of Unity School *Sacks SMOs

David Apeh

The federal government yesterday suspended the controversial public-private partnership (PPP) nitiative in the management of federal government colleges across the country.

This was disclosed by the minister of education, Dr. Igwe Aja-Nwachukwu, when he met with members of the schools management organisations (SMOs) who had been granted provisional approval by the previous administration to run the 102 unity schools across the country.

The minister, who also announced the sack of the SMOs, said the manner the arrangement was hastily put in place did not give room for wider consultations on how best the schools could be effectively and efficiently managed, adding that the arrangement threatened public interest.

The minister made it clear that the arrangement did not take into consideration the legal and technical framework nor defined the percentage risk the SMOs should bear. "It was an open-ended agreement," the minister said.

He made it clear that the ministry will soon convoke a wider stakeholders’ meeting where views and ideas on the best management mode to run the unity schools would be reached.

The Federal Ministry of Education under the former minister, Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili, in March 2007, put up adverts in major newspapers in Nigeria announcing the pre-qualified SMOs for the 102 unity schools in Nigeria.

The SMOs, according to the former minister, were requested to pick up information package for the school of their choice upon payment of N50, 000 per school, in bank draft drawn in favour of the Federal Ministry of Education.

After the announcement of the qualified SMOs, there were petitions from some individuals, who stated that those involved in the sale were nor sincere. One person bought no fewer than 50 schools under different names, it was alleged.

The first indication that Ezekwesili’s reforms had run into troubled waters was when the new minister resumed and announced that the reforms had been suspended until further notice.

Apart from the sale of unity schools, other reforms carried out by the former minister included the merging of all federal polytechnics with universities and changing the status of Kaduna Polytechnic and Yaba College of Technology, a Polytechnic.

There was also the pruning down of some of the parastatals in the Ministry of Education. With this latest development, it therefore means that all the last-minute reform measures have been stopped.

PUNCH

Unity schools: FG suspends PPP, sacks SMOs

By Onyedi Ojiabor, Abuja

Published: Saturday, 22 Sep 2007

The Federal Government has suspended the controversial Public-Private-Partnership initiative in the management of the 102 Federal Government Colleges in the country.

The government also suspended the activities of the Schools Management Organisations put in place for the management of the unity schools under the PPP arrangement. A statement by the Press Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Mr. Akpoili Timothy, said the Minister of Education, Dr. Igwe Aja-Wachuku, announced the suspension of the initiative and the sack of the SMOs on Thursday when he met members of the SMOs in Abuja.

Members of the SMOs were granted provisional approval by the Obasanjo administration to manage and run the 102 unity schools. Timothy quoted Aja-Nwachuku as saying that the “manner and rush” in which the PPP arrangement was put in place did not give room for consideration of wider views and ideas on how best the schools could be effectively and efficiently managed, adding that it “threatened public interests.”

Timothy said though the minister agreed that the major problem of the unity schools was management which the PPP initiatives aimed at solving, he said “the arrangement did not take into consideration the legal and technical framework or define percentage risk the SMOs should bear.” The statement said the minister described the arrangement as an “open-ended agreement” and assured that the ministry would soon organise a wider stakeholders meeting where views and ideas on the best management mode to run the unity schools would be arrived at.

Meanwhile, the minister has appealed for technical assistance from development partners in order to effectively deal with the problems of the three tiers of education in the country. Such technical assistance, he said, could come in form of human resource development and capacity building.

Aja-Wachukwu made the appeal on Friday when he received officials of the World Bank and the British Department for International Development in his office. He noted that with the sharp increase in gross primary school enrolment, there was need to create new spaces at secondary and tertiary levels to accommodate the large number of graduates from the primary schools.

The World Bank country director, Dr. Hafez Ghaneim, told the minister that the bank’s strong support of the education sector was informed by their belief that education was the best means of fighting poverty, ignorance and disease.

CHAMPION

FG takes over unity schools

ERASMUS ALANEME, Abuja

After months of speculation on the fate of the 102 Unity Colleges handed over to into private hands by the President Olusegun Obasanjo led administration, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua yesterday in Abuja ordered the return of the Federal Governments Colleges back to full government ownership.

Following this, the government also announced the sack of all the School Management Organizations (SMOs), who hitherto had been managing the Unity Colleges since the Public Private Partnership (PPP) reform was introduced leading to the handing over of the model schools to private hands.

Education Minister, Dr. Igwe Aja-Nwachuku who stated this while meeting with the SMOs in his office bemoaned what he called "manner and rush" in which the schools meant to be models for others to follow in terms of secondary education in Nigeria was handed over to private hands.

According to release made available to Saturday Champion and signed by the press secretary to the Federal Ministry of Education, Timothy Akpoili, the whole process leading to the reform of the unity colleges were done in such a manner that it did not give room for consideration of wider views adding that the process threatened public interest.

"The manner and rush’ in which the PPP arrangement was put in place did not give room for consideration of wider views and ideas on how best the schools could be effectively and efficiently managed, even as the arrangement "threatened public interests" part of release read.

While agreeing that the major problems of the unity schools is management which the PPP Initiatives aimed at solving, the Minister said the arrangement did not take into consideration the legal and technical frame-work nor defined percentage risk the SMOs should bear. "It was an open-ended agreement" the Minister stressed.

He therefore said that the Ministry would soon convoke a wider stakeholders meeting where views and ideas on the best management mode to run the unity schools would be arrived at.

It would be recalled that the move by former Education Minister, Oby Ezekwesili to hand over the unity schools over to private managers under the PPP arrangement was resisted by Nigerians.

Ezekwesili then stated that the schools were not being sold as was rumored by those against the PPP plan. Also the public outcry that the move was not in public interest which Ezekwesili ignored has been vindicated as the new Minister stated that the arrangement threatened public interest.

What becomes of the SMOs and the money which they paid before winning the right to run the school was at press time still unclear.