In a determined effort to revitalize the Benue State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Dr. Grace Adagba, the newly appointed Executive Chairman, has launched vigorous reforms including campaign against corruption.
Driven by a desire to reposition the Benue State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) and make it competitive with private primary schools, the Executive Chairman, Dr. Grace Adagba, has implemented significant measures since assuming office in December 2023 to block financial leakages and enhance transparency.
Investigations by our correspondent revealed that top politicians in the state, in collusion with some civil servants, have devised methods to siphon millions of Naira from the agency monthly through dubious contracts and arbitrary salary deductions from underpaid rural teachers, but the system is no longer working because of certain reforms introduced by the new Executive Chairman.
On assumption of office, the new SUBEB Chairman blocked all the leakages. She introduced an e-payment system for teachers who now get salaries at the click of a button, shutting the door for manipulation of teachers’ salaries.
Mr. Akese Wasenen who is a former Secretary of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Makurdi branch told our correspondent that as the then branch Secretary, salary deductions and omissions were the most frequent of issues his office treated.
“Wasenen said, “Most of the deductions accumulated to 15 months. But since this administration came on board we have not witnessed such deductions. My colleague who had not been paid for months before the coming of this administration is now being paid.
“My salary was omitted in 2021 and 2022, I am also following up and I am hoping I will be paid soon. The truth is that SUBEB has adopted a new payment approach and it is working well for us. Today, even if you are not paid the system will prompt them in the office that you are not paid, and you will be paid immediately.”
However, Dr. Adagba’s efforts to curb financial malpractices have not gone unchallenged, as those benefiting from the corrupt system are now pushing back. For months, she has faced deliberate attacks from individuals and groups who profited from the previous corrupt system.
Comrade Patricia Gbuuga who is familiar with the development in the board and a teacher in the Ushongo Local Government Area of the state told our correspondent “These attacks are primarily aimed at undermining her reforms and maintaining the status quo that allowed for financial leakages.
“I am happy that despite these challenges, Dr. Adagba remains committed to her mission of transforming the basic education sector in Benue State through transparent and accountable governance.
Gbuuga added that arbitrary cutting of teachers’ salaries has stopped and that arrears of salaries are being paid under the leadership of Dr. Grace Adagba.
“Under Dr. Grace Adagba, we are paid every 25th of the month. Dr. Adagba is a God sent to Benue Primary school teachers. Before now, we didn’t even know our salaries. They will pay you anything they want and even when you complain nothing happens.
“The cutting of teachers’ salaries was so bad and it was across the board; whether you are a union leader or anything.
“Today, the story has changed and we are indeed grateful for the new leadership at SUBEB.” Gbuuga said in a telephone interview with our correspondent.
Media attacks on the SUBEB Executive Chairman
Despite the milestones achieved by Dr. Adagba in less than one year in office such as the construction and renovation of various facilities at the SUBEB headquarters, the establishment of a Digital Resource Centre to provide modern educational resources and improve administrative efficiency, making public basic schools more competitive with private schools, and teachers’ training, stoppage of arbitrary deductions in teachers’ salaries among others, the detractors are bent on sponsoring false media narrative against the Executive Chairman.
In one of such media attacks which can only find space on social media and some unserious blog spots, the detractors enlisted the services of one Aare Abiodun Oluwarotimi, publisher of the Nigerian Concord online newspaper, who published a story on August 3, 2024, with the caption: _Why is Benue Govt, Assembly protecting Adagba, the SUBEB N2.7b Thief but sacked BSIEC Chairman?_ The story which rightly convicted the SUBEB chairman as a thief without recourse to a court of law pronouncement further exposed the plot of the detractors and the lack of basic knowledge of the journalism profession by the publisher.
A close friend of Mr. Aare Oluwarotimi, who pleaded not to be named in print told our correspondent that Aare can do anything for food. “Is like you don’t know this man. Aare is a very cunny fellow and some of his dubious acts worked against him when he contested for the House of Assembly Seat in Akure South Constituency 1 in Ondo State on the platform of the PDP. Nobody takes him seriously in his place.
“Aare Abiodun Oluwarotimi has been associated with several false and defamatory publications targeting individuals in Benue State before now. He often blackmail people to get them to give him money, so, I am not surprised at his publications. If not in Aare’s world of imaginations and blackmail how will you call someone a thief in print without any evidence?
“In 2017 he published misleading information about directives given to Zenith Bank concerning Benue State’s wage accounts, falsely implicating Governor Samuel Ortom in corruption without any evidence of money transfer to the Governor’s accounts.
“The then Governor dragged him to court and in November 2017, a Makurdi High Court Judge, Justice Adam Onum ordered Mr Aare Abiodun Oluwarotimi to pay the sum of N5 million to the Benue State governor, Samuel Ortom, as damages for libel.
“The Judge also ordered him to within 14 days, retract all the libelous publications in national newspapers, television, radio and social media platforms as well as tender apologies which must be published in the national dailies.”
Further checks by our correspondent revealed that Oluwarotimi did not comply with the court’s orders and continued the libelous publications against Dr. Samuel Ortom and other Benue citizens. In April 2018, a Makurdi High Court issued a warrant for the arrest of Aare Abiodun Oluwarotimi, after the court had previously found that he was disobeying court judgment and evading service of court processes.
SUBEB did not award N2.7bn contract- Source
Contrary to Aare Oluwatimi’s claim that the SUBEB chairman misappropriated N2.7bn through fake, inflated and irregular school contracts, the investigation revealed that the board has not issued any school contract since Dr. Adagba assumed office. Though efforts to reach Dr. Adagba for comment on the matter proved abortive, a close source to her, who is familiar with the developments in the board but pleaded anonymity because she is not authorized to speak to the press on the matter said the board was still undergoing the rigorous process of award of contracts for schools’ renovation, construction and provision of furniture.
The source said, “As of the time the story was published in the Nigerian Concord Newspaper accusing the Chairman of misappropriating N2.7bn, the Board was yet to begin the process of awarding letters to successful contractors, who participated in the bidding that ended recently.
“To ensure due process, the bid opening process was conducted with transparency to ensure accountability in the execution of projects. For years this kind of open and transparent bidding process was not done in the board. This is one of the bold steps towards eliminating corruption and ensuring that contracts are awarded based on merit and performance.
“Those sponsoring false media reports against the board are fighting a lost battle because the new chairman is focused and will not allow herself to be distracted by such reports. We need to support the system to work for the benefit of all of us. The era where people use dubious means to empty the treasury of the board while public schools remained dilapidated is over,” the source said.
The source also said Dr Adagba had concluded plans to revive the Nursery session in the public primary schools called Early Child Care Development Education (ECCDE) in order to lay a solid educational foundation for children of the poor in the state.
A public Affairs analyst and Executive Director of “Good Governance Initiative,” Mr. Magaji Yahuza while commenting on the alleged corruption in the board said, “The recent false media reports alleging corruption within the Benue State Universal Basic Education Board highlighted a troubling trend where those who were beneficiaries of a flawed system seek to discredit reforms that threaten their interests.
“The new executive chairman’s efforts to block entrenched malpractices have ruffled feathers. This scenario is a classic example of “corruption fighting back,” where those who once profited from systemic inefficiencies now deploy misinformation as a tool to resist change. The goal of such narratives is usually not just to tarnish reputations but to preserve a status quo that benefits a few at the expense of the broader public. These are some of the challenges reformers face in uprooting deeply ingrained corrupt practices.
“While I urge the Executive Chairman to remain steadfast, it is essential for both the government and the public to critically assess the motivations behind such reports and to support genuine efforts at reform.
“Transparency and accountability must remain the cornerstones of governance, but these can only be achieved if citizens and leaders alike stand firm against the manipulations of those who resist progress for personal gain,” he said.
