OPEN LETTER TO HIS EXCELLENCY, SENATOR PRINCE BASSEY EDET OTU EXECUTIVE GOVERNOR
URGENT CALL FOR ACTION ON CALABAR SOUTH SCHOOL CONDITIONS
Your Excellency,
The Calabar South Community Indigenous Forum with deep respect for your office and a clear acknowledgment of the efforts your administration has made in steering Cross River State toward development. Your leadership has demonstrated intention, structure, and visible investment across critical sectors including education, infrastructure, healthcare, agriculture, tourism, and human capital development. Across the state, citizens recognize your commitment and your determination to reposition Cross River State for progress.
However, Your Excellency, we must state without ambiguity that there is now a widening and dangerous disconnect between policy intention and implementation reality, particularly within the education sector. This disconnect is no longer theoretical it is visible, persistent, and directly affecting children in public schools.
The Honourable Commissioner for Education, Senator Professor Stephen Adi Odey, has consistently communicated that challenges in the education sector were largely due to delayed approvals and funding constraints which we believed. This narrative shaped public understanding of the poor condition of schools for years. But the most recent official scorecard released by the same office presents a completely different reality, which leaves us surprised, a record that claims the receipt and utilization of over ₦17 billion in UBEC intervention funds, alongside extensive procurement of furniture, classroom construction, rehabilitation projects and other large-scale interventions within a three-year period.
Your Excellency, both narratives cannot be true in the same reality, because on the ground in Calabar South, the truth is undeniable, children are still sitting on bare floors in public classrooms from 2023 to 2026 in Calabar South a State Capital, Pupils are still learning under leaking roofs that disrupt teaching every time it rains. Books are still being damaged, uniforms soaked and lessons interrupted by conditions that should not exist in any functioning education system. In several schools, including Pinn Margaret Secondary School, students continue to learn without desks, without adequate facilities, and in environments that fall far below acceptable educational standards.
These are not claims. These are daily realities and they stand in direct contradiction to the scale of expenditure being publicly reported.
Your Excellency, governance is not measured by documents, speeches, or scorecards. It is measured by outcomes. It is measured by what a child experiences inside a classroom. It is measured by whether education is happening with dignity or under neglect. By that standard, the education system in Calabar South reflect failure of implementation, not failure of policy.
It must also be stated clearly that implementation, supervision and monitoring of education infrastructure projects rest squarely on the leadership of the Honourable Commissioner for Education. Where billions are reportedly expended yet classrooms remain in disrepair, accountability cannot be avoided or shifted. Responsibility must produce results.
We therefore state categorically that the current condition of public schools in Calabar South represents a serious breakdown in execution within the education administration structure. The gap between reported achievements and visible reality is too wide, too consistent, and too obvious to be dismissed.
On this note, the Calabar South Community issues a firm and final 14-day ultimatum to the Ministry of Education under the Honourable Commissioner for Education, Senator Professor Stephen Adi Odey, to commence and visibly demonstrate urgent corrective action in affected schools. This must include immediate provision of classroom furniture, rehabilitation of dilapidated structures, replacement of leaking roofing systems, and restoration of safe, functional learning environments across public schools in Calabar South.
This ultimatum is not symbolic. It is a clear demand for action, If, after the expiration of this 14-day period, there is no meaningful and verifiable intervention, he should resign failure to do so the community will proceed to formally petition relevant oversight, accountability, and anti-corruption institutions for a comprehensive investigation into the utilization of education funds, including UBEC interventions and related expenditures.
Secondly, if he refuses to resign the community will organize structured, peaceful public demonstrations to demand immediate resignation of the Commissioner of Education for his incompetency and urgent restoration of acceptable learning conditions in affected schools.
Thirdly, the community will initiate formal legal proceedings seeking redress of ₦200 million for sustained neglect of school infrastructure and for the continued collection of school fees and other charges for 3 yrs years from this children, despite the persistent failure to provide safe and functional learning environments for affected pupils.
These steps are not threats. They are the structured and lawful response of a community that can no longer accept a situation where children are visibly left behind while reports suggest otherwise.
Your Excellency, we wrote and addressed 2 weeks ago, the plights of Pinn Margaret Secondary school students in Calabar South but up till now nothing has been done, your Excellency the two heavy rain that fell recently fell on those children their books and everything were soaked this is why we're calling on the Commissioner and Government to take prompt actions immediately, more heavy rainfall are coming and this is to the detriment of this children, some of them have underlying illness which can be aggravated by cold and over exposure to adverse weather conditions can lead to different illness in this children, this is why we have to make their learning environment optimally serene.
Your Excellency, this situation now demands decisive intervention. The continued existence of these conditions under the supervision of the education leadership raises unavoidable questions of performance, oversight, and accountability that must be addressed directly.
The children of Cross River State are not statistics. They are not entries in a report. They are human beings whose future is being shaped or damaged by the state of their classrooms today.
Your Excellency, We remain respectful of your office and confident in your leadership. But we state clearly: intention without execution is not development.
We therefore appeal that immediate corrective action be enforced, and that accountability within the education sector be restored without delay.
In conclusion, the Chairman of the Forum, Hon. Chief Francis Ekpenyong (worldwide), on behalf of the Calabar South Community, expresses sincere appreciation to Your Excellency for your continued commitment to the development of Cross River State. We particularly commend the recent acquisition of a new aircraft for Cally Air, as well as your sustained investments in infrastructure development, improvements in key sectors such as education and healthcare, ongoing urban renewal efforts, and the visible progress on key road projects including Abasi Edem Road, Akparika, Azikiwe Avenue and several other roads currently undergoing construction and rehabilitation across Calabar. These efforts reflect a government actively working to reposition the state for sustainable growth, also thank out Excellency for his great show of welfare to grassroot politics by giving councilors funds for to purchase official vehicles they community really appreciate.
We also encourage Your Excellency to remain focused and attentive, even in the face of political distractions and the often traded words from opposition voices. Leadership at this level requires steadiness, discernment, and resilience, and we are confident in your ability to remain anchored on your development agenda despite external noise.
The Calabar South Community remains firmly and unapologetically behind your administration.
We declare our continued support and solidarity as you steer the affairs of the state, and we reaffirm our belief in your vision for a stronger and more prosperous Cross River State. We pray that God continues to protect Your Excellency, grant you more wisdom, strengthen your leadership capacity, and expand your vision for the state. We also pray that God gives you the courage and strength to confront and eliminate corruption in all its forms within the system, so that governance can deliver even greater impact to the people.
At the same time, this letter remains a necessary appeal driven by the realities observed in public schools within Calabar South, especially the urgent need for improved learning conditions and functional infrastructure. Calabar South cannot stand by and watch while the efforts and goodwill of this administration are undermined by the negligence and inaction of some public officials whose conduct continues to give the government a bad name and distort public perception of its achievements.
It is our firm belief that the strength of any administration lies not only in its vision but in the integrity and performance of those entrusted to implement that vision. Where gaps exist, corrective action becomes necessary to preserve public trust and protect the image of government.
Finally, we call on all members of the Calabar South Community to remain calm, peaceful, and law-abiding as we await the response and actions of the government within the stated period. We remain confident that our Excellency will act decisively in the best interest of the children, the integrity of governance, and the future of Cross River State.
E-Signed:
Hon. Chief Francis Ekpenyong
Worldwide
Chairman, Calabar South Community Forum
E-Signed:
Barr. Joe Edet
Secretary
