The Enugu State Government has vowed to resist a plan by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) to scuttle the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) in Enugu State and South-east.
Sit-at-home
IPOB earlier this month announced that there would be a sit-at-home on 30 May across the South-east to mark their Biafra Day which is celebrated annually.
Emma Powerful, the IPOB’s spokesperson, in a statement, said the celebration was intended to remember IPOB members who died in “the fight for freedom”.
IPOB is a group seeking to carve out a sovereign state of Biafra from the South-east and some parts of the south-south of Nigeria.
“Annually, we celebrate 30th May as our heroes and heroines day when we remember the men and women who died that we may live, before, during, and after the Nigerian war between 1967 and 1970 and beyond and even until now,” he said.
“To this effect, IPOB directs all schools, government, offices, private offices, banks, transport unions, market unions and private individuals to shut down all operations in honour of our heroes and heroines on Thursday, May 30, 2024,” Mr Powerful stated, adding that only health workers are exempted from the illegal order.
However, in a contradictory statement, Simon Ekpa, a pro-Biafra agitator, announced that the sit-at-home would last for three days from 29 to 31 May 2024.
Mr Ekpa, who leads Auto Pilot, a faction of IPOB, said the three-day sit-at-home was necessary to enable “Biafrans to vote for the Liberation of Biafra.”
The agitator, who is based in Finland, asked Igbos and “lovers of South-east” to stay at home on the mentioned days in honour of slain Biafran heroes during the Nigerian civil war.
He asked the West African Examination Council (WAEC) to reschedule its WASSCE billed to hold within the time in the South-east.
It is gathered that WAEC had fixed 30 May for its general mathematics examination in the state and across the region.
Enugu Govt Rejects Sit-at-home
But the Enugu State Government rejected the sit-at-home order and said the IPOB’s declaration was unacceptable given that the illegal action had affected the socio-economic lives of South-east residents.
The Commissioner for Information in Enugu State, Aka Eze Aka, in a statement on Wednesday, said the state government was concerned that IPOB asked WAEC to shift its examination because of the illegal order.
Mr Eze said the possibility of students in the South-east failing to sit for the examination on Thursday has “far-reaching consequences”.
The information commissioner said the people of the South-east excel on the wings of industry, education and human capital development.
“Therefore, any pronouncement or action that tends to deny our children their rights to education which is their ticket to the future, is offensive to our sensibilities and surely the sensibilities of our founding fathers and fallen heroes,” he said.
“The government will not sit by and watch the future of our children aborted by such ill-conceived pronouncement intended to keep them at home. WAEC, as the name implies, is a regional body organising SSCE, not just in Nigeria, but also across West Africa. The sub-region will certainly not wait for us.
“The Enugu State Government, therefore, enjoins candidates sitting for the ongoing SSCE in Enugu State to feel free to go to their respective centres to sit for their papers on Thursday, May 30, 2024, without any fears, while the officials involved in the conduct of the examination should also go about their legitimate duties without apprehension,” Mr Eze added.
The commissioner stressed that the government has put security agencies on red alert to ensure the security of lives and property and deal with IPOB members who try to enforce illegal order to scuttle the examination.
Meanwhile, in a circular issued on Tuesday, the Head of Service in Enugu State, Ken Ugwu, warned civil servants and political appointees in the state that failure to report to work on Thursday (today) would attract severe sanctions.
“May I remind our workers that failure to be in their duty posts on the above date will attract summary dismissal from Service in line with the enabling provisions of the Public Service Rules,” Mr Ugwu said.
“It must be noted that such purported public holiday/sit-at-home will have far-reaching consequences on the academic pursuit of our children, who are taking part in the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examinations holding simultaneously across the nation, including the South-eastern region.”
