Concerned parents of
the respected Kings College, Lagos have sent a petition to the Chairman, Senate
Committee on Education as regards the attitude of the principal.
Titled SERIOUS
CRISIS IN KING’S COLLEGE LAGOS, they
said the ugly incidents started in November 2011. As serious as it is, some of
the issues raised in the petition is already a subject matter of litigation
before the Lagos High Court in suit Nos. ID/142/2012.
However, the principal
refused to appear before the court rather he sends his teachers to represent
him claiming that at his level, he cannot be seen in the courts thereby giving
the impression that he is above sanctions.
The issues raised
were:
DISTRUPTION OF PTA
MEETING/EXECUTIVE
The principal,
Otunba Oladele Olapeju, aborted the P.T.A. election which was schedule to hold
on the 27th Nov. 2011 and appointed his own candidate, Mr. Emmanuel Oriakhi, to
run the affairs of the P.T.A on an interim basis, not minding the fact that the
P.T.A. constitution has no provision for interim administration.
The principal on his own without recourse to the general house changed some portions of the P.T.A. constitution and claimed that it was on the instruction of the Minister of Education.
In March 2012, election was conducted to elect new executives to take over from the illegal interim administration but the principal usurped the mandate given by the parents in the case of the Financial Secretary with the reason and excuse that there was a letter again from the Minister of Education stating that the post of Financial Secretary must be held by the school staff.
The principal on his own without recourse to the general house changed some portions of the P.T.A. constitution and claimed that it was on the instruction of the Minister of Education.
In March 2012, election was conducted to elect new executives to take over from the illegal interim administration but the principal usurped the mandate given by the parents in the case of the Financial Secretary with the reason and excuse that there was a letter again from the Minister of Education stating that the post of Financial Secretary must be held by the school staff.
To that effect, he
appointed the School Store Keeper as PTA Financial Secretary. This he did to
enable him take over the control of the finance of the P.T.A.
The imposed PTA Chairman, Mr. Emmanuel Oriakhi with the connivance of the Principal single-handedly brought some members of the interim committee into the executive as ex-officio and as at this report they are the ones that coordinates PTA key projects, for instance, School Bus Shuttle Services, Laundry etc. in order to continue to perpetuate their fraudulent and illegal acts.
CONSTRUCTION OF THE P.T.A HOSTEL SCAM
The school management through the principal wrote a letter to PTA, requesting for assistance to build a 5 storey Hostel block to accommodate the teaming population of the student. This request was accepted by the parents in PTA general meeting. A building levy of N15,000 was agreed, just for the Principal and his partner the PTA Chairman to impose N40,000 on parents of the new intakes.
At the commencement of the Hostel project, the Chairman and the Principal with impunity connived to impose two unqualified main contractors to handle the project, shrouded in secrecy, without the knowledge of other members of the executives, without going through the due process of tendering and bidding which is expected for such Capital project, they did this to protect their fraudulent interest.
ADMISSION SCAM
The principal sometime before September admission in 2012, made an open promise to parents in PTA General meeting that he will assist parents whose children failed to secure admission into JSS1 and SS1 on merit to secure admission. The PTA Chairman acting as a front for the principal, informed parents to either bring 50 bags of cement or the cash equivalent of N100,000 as a support for the Hostel building project before the admission will be given.
About 50 parents paid the sum of N100,000 each and were issued fictitious receipts for cement as a cover up. What was very disheartening in this act, was the fact that children with higher scores whose parents could not afford to pay N100,000 were denied and the fund raised diverted, as the Principal insisted and collected the money from PTA personally before signing the admission letters.
UNHEALTHY BOARDING HOUSE FACILITY
Some of the SS1 – SS3 students at the main camp have been sleeping on the corridors of the hostels since the beginning of this session, because of the greed of the principal, who gave admission to more students over the existing capacity and facility available in the school. This act has over-stretched the existing structures and facilities thereby affecting the welfare of our children that paid for boarding accommodation.
COMMERCIALISING THE SCHOOL PREMISES
The Annex Campus of Victoria Island had been turned into car park for banks and their customers such as GT Bank at Adeyemo Alakija which has no car park due to the high rise and no space building that it has. The principal leased out the school premises to them for a high amount of money thereby endangering the lives of our children. Not minding the spate of insecurity in our society today.
Shops and business centers were constructed everywhere making the school atmosphere un-conducive for learning. But for the intervention of Lagos State Environmental Agencies that demolished some of the shops that were recently constructed, our children would have been learning in a market square other than school premises.
During the weekends, the school premise in the Annex Campus is rented out at a fee for one social function or the other and parties are thrown without caution and recourse to the fact that this is a learning environment for children in JSS1-JSS3 whose ages range between 10-13 years (Moral bankruptcy).
IMPOSED RAFFLE TICKET LEVY
At the resumption of this second term, the principal Otunba Oladele Olapeju with the connivance of the P.T.A. Chairman Mr. Emman Oriakhi suddenly increased the PTA levies from N7,500:00 to N20,500:00, imposing an additional N10,000:00 tagged Raffle ticket levy, and N3,000:00 as laundry fee, without discussing it at the general meeting for approval.
MISMANAGEMENT OF PTA FUND
The PTA Chairman and his cronies dispenses PTA money as their personal money, himself and the principal, through the imposed Secretary Mrs. Umeano a teacher, who co-sign the PTA cheques with the Chairman. They decide on what areas to utilize the funds and allocate contracts to their cronies without the knowledge of other members of the executives and approval of the general house. They run the PTA without a budget, no checks and balances. It has become so bad, that the Chairman operates the P.T.A. Secretariat from his personal office at Alaka, along Funso Williams Avenue Surelere, where he keeps contract files away from other members of the executives.
The principal and the chairman uses different fictitious contractor names to siphon the P.T.A. money without the approval of the general house and do not render an account to the general house. Among many others are the Cleaning contractor imposed on the PTA, since Nov. 27th 2011, which the PTA pays the sum of N500,000;00 monthly for service not rendered, and the sum of N1.5million paid monthly for PTA staff that does not exist.
CONCLUSION
Rancor and crisis is brewing up now in the school at the moment because of the building levy that is incessantly imposed on parents, the unhealthy and not conducive learning environment that the school has subjected our children to and our children return home at the end of every term with water related sicknesses, in spite of all the good-wills offered to the school by parents and corporate bodies. Parents are asking questions and are of the opinion that the previous money paid for the building project is not being judiciously utilized. Raffle ticket shared to students for sales should not be made compulsory for them to pay before completion of the sale.
We hereby do appeal to the Chairman, Senate Committee on Education and to all concerned to come to the rescue of the Students, Parents, Teachers and the good image of this premier institution from collapse and to correct these administrative ills being perpetuated by the principal and his partner P.T.A Chairman to return Kings College to its former glory. We will appreciate your immediate intervention to correct these wrongs in order to give us the joy of seeing the king’s college of our dream.
Thank you as we look forward for your urgent intervention into this matter.
Yours Sincerely,
Concerned Parents.
The imposed PTA Chairman, Mr. Emmanuel Oriakhi with the connivance of the Principal single-handedly brought some members of the interim committee into the executive as ex-officio and as at this report they are the ones that coordinates PTA key projects, for instance, School Bus Shuttle Services, Laundry etc. in order to continue to perpetuate their fraudulent and illegal acts.
CONSTRUCTION OF THE P.T.A HOSTEL SCAM
The school management through the principal wrote a letter to PTA, requesting for assistance to build a 5 storey Hostel block to accommodate the teaming population of the student. This request was accepted by the parents in PTA general meeting. A building levy of N15,000 was agreed, just for the Principal and his partner the PTA Chairman to impose N40,000 on parents of the new intakes.
At the commencement of the Hostel project, the Chairman and the Principal with impunity connived to impose two unqualified main contractors to handle the project, shrouded in secrecy, without the knowledge of other members of the executives, without going through the due process of tendering and bidding which is expected for such Capital project, they did this to protect their fraudulent interest.
ADMISSION SCAM
The principal sometime before September admission in 2012, made an open promise to parents in PTA General meeting that he will assist parents whose children failed to secure admission into JSS1 and SS1 on merit to secure admission. The PTA Chairman acting as a front for the principal, informed parents to either bring 50 bags of cement or the cash equivalent of N100,000 as a support for the Hostel building project before the admission will be given.
About 50 parents paid the sum of N100,000 each and were issued fictitious receipts for cement as a cover up. What was very disheartening in this act, was the fact that children with higher scores whose parents could not afford to pay N100,000 were denied and the fund raised diverted, as the Principal insisted and collected the money from PTA personally before signing the admission letters.
UNHEALTHY BOARDING HOUSE FACILITY
Some of the SS1 – SS3 students at the main camp have been sleeping on the corridors of the hostels since the beginning of this session, because of the greed of the principal, who gave admission to more students over the existing capacity and facility available in the school. This act has over-stretched the existing structures and facilities thereby affecting the welfare of our children that paid for boarding accommodation.
COMMERCIALISING THE SCHOOL PREMISES
The Annex Campus of Victoria Island had been turned into car park for banks and their customers such as GT Bank at Adeyemo Alakija which has no car park due to the high rise and no space building that it has. The principal leased out the school premises to them for a high amount of money thereby endangering the lives of our children. Not minding the spate of insecurity in our society today.
Shops and business centers were constructed everywhere making the school atmosphere un-conducive for learning. But for the intervention of Lagos State Environmental Agencies that demolished some of the shops that were recently constructed, our children would have been learning in a market square other than school premises.
During the weekends, the school premise in the Annex Campus is rented out at a fee for one social function or the other and parties are thrown without caution and recourse to the fact that this is a learning environment for children in JSS1-JSS3 whose ages range between 10-13 years (Moral bankruptcy).
IMPOSED RAFFLE TICKET LEVY
At the resumption of this second term, the principal Otunba Oladele Olapeju with the connivance of the P.T.A. Chairman Mr. Emman Oriakhi suddenly increased the PTA levies from N7,500:00 to N20,500:00, imposing an additional N10,000:00 tagged Raffle ticket levy, and N3,000:00 as laundry fee, without discussing it at the general meeting for approval.
MISMANAGEMENT OF PTA FUND
The PTA Chairman and his cronies dispenses PTA money as their personal money, himself and the principal, through the imposed Secretary Mrs. Umeano a teacher, who co-sign the PTA cheques with the Chairman. They decide on what areas to utilize the funds and allocate contracts to their cronies without the knowledge of other members of the executives and approval of the general house. They run the PTA without a budget, no checks and balances. It has become so bad, that the Chairman operates the P.T.A. Secretariat from his personal office at Alaka, along Funso Williams Avenue Surelere, where he keeps contract files away from other members of the executives.
The principal and the chairman uses different fictitious contractor names to siphon the P.T.A. money without the approval of the general house and do not render an account to the general house. Among many others are the Cleaning contractor imposed on the PTA, since Nov. 27th 2011, which the PTA pays the sum of N500,000;00 monthly for service not rendered, and the sum of N1.5million paid monthly for PTA staff that does not exist.
CONCLUSION
Rancor and crisis is brewing up now in the school at the moment because of the building levy that is incessantly imposed on parents, the unhealthy and not conducive learning environment that the school has subjected our children to and our children return home at the end of every term with water related sicknesses, in spite of all the good-wills offered to the school by parents and corporate bodies. Parents are asking questions and are of the opinion that the previous money paid for the building project is not being judiciously utilized. Raffle ticket shared to students for sales should not be made compulsory for them to pay before completion of the sale.
We hereby do appeal to the Chairman, Senate Committee on Education and to all concerned to come to the rescue of the Students, Parents, Teachers and the good image of this premier institution from collapse and to correct these administrative ills being perpetuated by the principal and his partner P.T.A Chairman to return Kings College to its former glory. We will appreciate your immediate intervention to correct these wrongs in order to give us the joy of seeing the king’s college of our dream.
Thank you as we look forward for your urgent intervention into this matter.
Yours Sincerely,
Concerned Parents.
If you will remember, we all agreed to build a 5 storey Hostel Apartment for our children to provide accommodation for our children that had been sleeping on the Hostel balconies since resumption and contributions was made by parents, money was also raised through the fund raising but they have long concluded plans not to go beyond 3 storey but to keep surcharging the parents every term for the same Hostel Building projectKings College Lagos, the oldest secondary school for boys in Nigeria, needs urgent attention.
ReplyDeleteThis worry was expressed by parents of students of the institution to the Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqqayat Rufa’i, in a petition.
The parents blamed the school’s management for the deplorable condition of the school and urged all stakeholders in the education sector to ensure that Kings College regains its place as the “best” secondary school in Nigeria.
The petition, signed by the parents and made available to The Eagle Online, reads: “It is time for the entire parents to join in this struggle. We have to take the destiny of our children seriously in our hands and fight this duo, as the Principal and his partners in crime have no intention of repenting from their evil acts. They are bent on extorting more monies from parents perpetually to enrich themselves through the seemingly Hostel building project and other means.”
The parents accused the management of extortion and gross negligence of duty.
They added in the petition: “Let us be prepared to ask questions about the fate of our children.
“If you will remember, we all agreed to build a 5 storey Hostel Apartment for our children to provide accommodation for our children that had been sleeping on the Hostel balconies since resumption and contributions was made by parents, money was also raised through the fund raising but they have long concluded plans not to go beyond 3 storey but to keep surcharging the parents every term for the same Hostel Building project.
“It may suit you to know that enough has been generated for the construction of the Hostel project, but they keep sharing the money through their self-appointed contractors that collect money without any verification for what the money is meant for.”
The parents therefore called on the Minister of Education to investigate their allegation and halt the decay in the school.
They said: “We can no longer fold our hands and pretend that all will be well, when God has already put the necks of our enemies in our hands, they are in defensive position. It is time to say NO to these tyrants, extortion and robbery.
“As mentioned in the petition, our children are kings, privileged and entitled to conducive learning environments and good food. Not the kind of stuff the Principal is offering them. They need these to perform excellently in their academics and other areas.
“Let us rise up and speak against this corruption with one voice. Let us get this message to other parents and fight for the benefit of our children. God is on our side, we shall root out this evil from KINGS COLLEGE, LAGOS.”