You Lack Moral High Ground To Force, Advise Teachers To Enrol Their Kids In Public Schools — Ondo PDP Reps Hopeful, Felix Kehinde, Fires Akeredolu

–Why Limit It To Education, The Same Principle Can Apply To Health Too

Deji Adebayo, Akure

A chieftain of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and House of Representatives candidate for Ondo East/West Federal Constituency in the 2023 general elections, Dr Felix Kehinde, has berated the Governor of Ondo state, Rotimi Akeredolu, over a recent media report that quoted the state government as saying it is an offence for teachers in the state to enrol their children and wards in private schools.

In a press statement personally signed by him, the UK-Based Medical Specialist said neither the Governor nor the state government has any moral high ground to imply or utter such a statement, at a time when the standard of education in the state is falling abysmally.

The statement reads;

“The recent utterances and retraction attributed to the agents of the government of Ondo state warrants a stern response. If not, we will have allowed the ruling APC government to sidestep their failures while actively mocking the good and hardworking members of Ondo state.

“For that reason alone, it is expedient that active citizens and indigenes respond in a well reasoned manner.

“It was recently reported in the news that the government of Ondo state has made it a crime for teachers in the state to enrol their children in private institutions. The government quickly sent out a retraction barely 24hours later maintaining the spirit of the initial report while saying it is not illegal for the Teachers to enrol their children in private establishment but their conscience should compel them to enrol their children in public schools.

“It is not a crime for  teachers to enrol or not enrol their children in government primary schools. It is the failure of the Akeredolu government that has led to the dwindling numbers in enrollment. Members of the public will recall how parents from both the high and mighty sought to enroll their children in public schools under the PDP-led government of Dr Olusegun Mimiko through the Mega Primary Schools across the state and the accompanied 90 free school shuttle buses. The PDP government did not need to threaten the teachers before this happened, it was simply a case of raising the standard in education which includes conducive learning environment, incentivising teachers and affordablility – Free of Charge.

“On the subject of moral imperative and conscience, since the governor is so assured of the work he has done, the officials of the state executive council, political appointees and APC apparatchiks should have been mandated first to carry out this action. Starting from the first family, children of the governor’s family and commissioners should be mandated also to enrol their kids in public institutions.

“Why limit it to education, the same principle can apply to health too. The governor can lead by example and make sure that he no longer flies out of the country to treat himself. The Public health facilities within  the state are enough to meet his needs since his administration is fond of making boasts of their achievements in that sector which is nothing but a charade.

“The challenge is that the APC government within the state will not do this because they know that the quality of the educational and health facilities are a shadow of themselves. They have resorted to bullying the civil servants that are being owed months in salaries and emoluments just to hide their failures.

“Ondo state people are wise enough to see through the farce and will show them the door when the appropriate time arrives”, the statement concludes.