Hon. Chief Sunny Akpodigaga Emeyese, former member of the House of Representatives and one-time member of the Delta State House of Assembly is presently the Chairman of the Governing Council, College of Education, Mosogar. In this interview with Moses Etu in his country home in Kokori, the ebullient politician and administrator opens up on the challenges facing Colleges of Education, his regrets in politics and the Urhobo Progress Union (UPU) election coming up soon.
As Chairman of the Governing Council for a year and some months now, how has it been?
It’s been very interesting, very challenging and I’m very happy with the level of development that we’ve witnessed since I came in as Chairman of the Governing Council of the College of Education in Mosogar. I give God all the glory.
So what are the challenges?
We resumed with crisis in the sense that the very first day, we met the students protesting. They locked the school gates, locked out the staff, and locked out everybody; we couldn’t even gain entrance to the school. So my first challenge was to help to resolve the crisis that led to that protest, which, by the special grace of God, we were able to look into it and it was resolved amicably. On that very day, we were able to pacify the students. We were able to appeal to them. And after a lot of dialogue with the students, they agreed and they opened the gates after some hours, to allow students and lecturers to go in. So that was a major challenge, but as I said, it was resolved amicably.
Since then, we have equally been faced with the challenges of appointments. First was that of the registrar. We continued with that of the provost, the librarian, and the bursar. It was quite challenging. If you recall, the appointment of the provost and the registrar, in the time of my predecessor, was very complex. It was complex to the extent that it resulted to a major crisis, and the school was closed down for some time.
So at that point, they could not resolve it, they had to appoint an acting registrar. So when I came in as chairman, it was the acting registrar that I met. When it was now time to do a proper appointment of the substantive registrar, these various challenges also cropped up.
But we were able to stand by it, and by God’s grace, the governor supported us, he gave us free hand to operate as a governing council. And that was how we were able to surmount the pressure from different angles. It was purely on merit. We felt and believed that meritocracy should be given a place in our society, and in the college. Our adherence to merit helped us in taking our decisions, which we were able to defend adequately. The same thing happened when the Provost was appointed. Interviews were conducted, a very rigorous interview, detailed interview for all of them. And at the end of the day, we took the best person, the person that emerged as the first person was the person we took. And we submitted the names to governor, and governor also, you know, ratified the decision of the governing council by taking the same first person that we recommended. We also did that of the Liberian, the Bursar, everything went seamlessly.
What is the future of Colleges of Education?
We have two Colleges of Education, presently. The College of Education in Warri and the College of Education in Mosogar. Before now, the future, I would say, of the Colleges of Education in Delta State was very bleak, very, very bleak to the extent that the schools, the NCE programme was almost becoming like the TC2 program. Students were no longer interested in enrolling for the programme. If you are looking for employment, you can hardly get a job with the NCE. Even if you have an NCE, you’ll be asked to go and upgrade before you can be recognized in certain areas of appointment or whatsoever.
What do you think is the way out now?
To tell you, to underscore the difficulties, in Mosogar, for instance, when I came on board, we had less than 200 NCE students.
200 NCE students? How were you able to come out of it?
We did everything we could to make sure that at least this time around, we have better admission in terms of population of students. The easiest way out of it is what is going to be implemented any time from now. Because when we sat down to review the future of the College of Education with my colleague in the College of Education, Warri, then, management of both Colleges came together and said no. The only way we can get out of this quagmire is to domesticate the federal law, which allows for a dual mandate system. The dual mandate system provides that College of Education can award NCE Certificates in conjunction with first degree in education courses. The dual mandate empowers the College of Education to award not just NCE, but first degree in education.
With the dual mandate, can universities still have courses in education?
Yes, for now, it will, but the truth is that, let’s start from there. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a step. My take is that we have met with the minister of higher education several times to discuss this. At the State level, they have prepared the law, because the governor requested for the law, which has been sent to him. Every relevant ministry and department did their bit on it before it was taken to the assembly. And the assembly has also looked at it, it has gone through different stages, and it has eventually been passed. Now, I’m sure that from now, the law will be presented to the governor for his assent. Once the governor assents to it by appending his signature, then, of course, it now shows that henceforth, possibly from this academic session, the College of Education can now admit students who will now have two certificates, the NCE certificate and the first degree, which is the dual mandate. They will do the NCE maybe for two years, then the first degree, three years, which is a five-year program. So at the end of the day, you end up with two certificates at the same time. Unlike previously, when you finish your NCE after three years before you go for your degree course, which will take you another three years or four years, depending on how the case may be. We can start from here and see how to improve the laws of the College of Education.
But if I have my way, I will go further to recommend that we should, as a state, go beyond the dual mandate in the sense that for you to be a lecturer, you must be a good teacher. The teaching profession is a very noble profession. And it is not an all-comers field. Right now, it’s almost like an all-comers field which shouldn’t be so. The teaching profession should be highly respected. And the best way we can do that is to allow teachers to have the elementary and basic knowledge of teaching. Anybody who has a first degree from any university, first degree in science or first degree in arts or even first degree in education, without having the NCE, as far as I’m concerned, may not, I use the word may, may not have the required elementary knowledge of what it takes to be a true teacher.
My take is that we can go for that as a state to discuss with the universities and withdraw the first degree in education courses from our normal universities and bring it to the Colleges of Education. Remove it from the curriculum of the normal universities, and let it fall under the Colleges of Education I believe it will go a long way to help us because it falls under the purview of the Colleges of Education, which means you cannot have a first degree in education without having NCE. And once you have an NCE, it goes to show that you are a professional teacher to the core. Most of these teachers we have today, they are not really professionals. A true professional teacher must have a TC2, NCE, and first degree in education.
Can you really assess the government of Governor Sheriff Oborevwori?
I am a stakeholder, so I can. I can tell you clearly without any form of equivocation that Elder Sheriff Oborevwori has done very well. He has done very well in terms of human infrastructure. He has done very well in terms of infrastructural development. In terms of human infrastructure, you know that people have been empowered in different ways. Our widows are being empowered every month. Our small-scale farmers and business people are getting microcredit facilities. And, of course, the state civil servants, everybody gets their salary on or before 25th of the month, if I’m not mistaken. Their salaries are being paid as at when due. Our pensioners are also smiling now because, unlike in the past when the state was owing pensioners because of lack of valuable resources, now the resources that are coming is being properly managed by the government to also pay pensioners. In terms of infrastructural development, you and I can see all the projects that are going on.
The flyover in Effurun-Warri, the one in Ughelli, , even the ones that is about to commence at Agbor–Uromi Junction. in Asaba axis, you see a lot of roads springing up. To me, within two years, the government has done so much. And I know that going forward, before the end of 2027, he would have completed most of these projects and would have started more.
What are the chances of APC in Delta?
It’s bright indeed. There’s hardly any party that can compete with APC in Delta State. Forget about the ADC, that is planning to come up. What structure do they have? I don’t see the structure they have. So, you can see that APC and PDP have merged, kind of, in this state. The major stakeholders in PDP have moved to APC. And before now, the major contending parties in the state were PDP and APC. If the two now join forces, like we have now, then of course, there’s a bandwagon effect. Don’t let anybody deceive you. Nobody can take Delta from APC, as long as the governor remains in the party.
Do you have any regrets venturing into politics?
Well, I don’t have so much regrets. The only regret I would say I have is the fact that I had so many dreams, so many things I wanted to achieve as a politician, in terms of helping my community, helping my constituents, helping my people. I was able to do some of them, but the little I did, I don’t think was good enough for my people. The reason is because I was not holding an executive position. I was holding a legislative position, which has no executive powers. But because of my position as a legislator, I’ve been able to use that influence to have a good rapport with the governors that have served so far, to the extent that I’ve been able to attract certain projects, beneficial projects and empowerment to my constituents, not just my constituents, to anybody that has come across me for one assistance or the other. But I would say that if I have the means, of course, I want to tie the whole of Kokori roads. I want to tie the whole of Ethiope East Local Government roads, but I can’t do that. So that’s why I’m saying. All my people in Kokori have been clamouring for a higher institution. But I don’t have the powers to do that.
Why did you choose to stay in the village with them?
The truth is I’ve always believed in grassroots politics, because as a lawyer, I did most of my private practice around this corridor. Isiokolo, Eku, Okpara, Effurun, Warri, for over 15 years. And the moment I had a place of my own in my village, I decided to stay with my people so as to appreciate their challenges and see how I could be more beneficial to them. You cannot claim to be serving your people while you are staying away. That has always been my principle.
Do you have any ambition in 2027?
Well, for now, not really.. My ambition is to help the governor to return a second tenure. And probably, by the special grace of God, depending on the governor, get also a good appointment where I can be of benefit to my people. But other than that, I don’t have any intention to run for any elective post for now. But if God says I should run, who am I to say no?
What is your view about governance generally?
Well, my view about governors generally is that we should, as much as possible, govern with integrity. I believe in politics of integrity. Incidentally or fortunately, it’s very scarce in Nigeria. And some of us who believe in that or who practice some level of integrity in politics are always seen as rebels or seen as nobody. Nobody likes us because we always speak the truth to government, speak the truth to leaders. Sometimes, we should, as a people, endeavour to tolerate criticism from all and sundry so that it will make us better leaders and make us take better decisions to help our people.
People see politics as a dirty game.
Yes Well, they see it as a dirty game because people betray you where you least expect them to. You have an agreement, an arrangement with somebody. We agree to do something together, collectively, then somebody probably goes back to rubbish you or backstab you. Some persons will do anything to run you down to gain cheap favour from government or from leaders. That is why some people see it as dirty. And I’ve had my own challenges. I’ve had my own bad moments. Just like every other person, I’ve also had my own good moments. But, you don’t give up because you’ve come a long way politically and your people have come to repose so much confidence in you, by the time you give up or you withdraw, how do you represent the people in the right places for them to get what they want? So if you chicken out to say, oh, I’ve been insulted or I’ve been derided or I’ve been relegated or I’ve been this, I’ve been that, and you decide to withdraw politically, the people whom you are leading, who see you as a leader, your supporters, your followers, will be disappointed because you will not be in a position now to champion the cause of your community or champion the cause of your followers. So to that extent, they are losers.
It’s not you as a person, when you are thinking of yourself as a person, that because you are comfortable, oh, I can withdraw. If you do that, at the end of the day, you have been selfish. You have been self-cantered.
The U.S. is planning to invade the Sambisa forest to stop what has been described as Christians genocide and blah, blah, blah. Are you in support of them?
Well, the truth is I don’t support the idea of one country threatening another sovereign country, no matter how powerful you are. The U.S. may be very powerful, but they can assist us. They shouldn’t threaten us. That’s my take. You can assist your brother if you see that things are rough with him financially. No, your brother must be the one to even invite you. But Nigeria has not invited them, and they seem to. Nigeria has not invited them for assistance. People are being killed every day. Yes, but they on their own, too, have not done badly. They wouldn’t have done badly if they had said, please, we are willing to assist you to solve this problem. There is now left to us to say, please come, we are having a problem, come and help us. But it’s different from when you say you are coming to invade us because you want to solve this problem for us.
The President knows whether we can cope or not. If he feels we don’t have the wherewithal, the personnel or the machines or the arms to solve that problem, then, of course, there’s nothing wrong in inviting them. This terrorism of a thing is a sponsored team from within the system. It is not that our army is incapable of solving terrorism or stopping the terrorism. I don’t believe so. I believe our army are more than capable to solve whatever terrorism problem we have in this country.
I can see that terrorism is now a business in this country, and people are benefiting from it. The government should know those who are benefiting from it.
Urhobo Progress Union (UPU) election is coming up, what is your take?
My advice is let the best person win.Urhobos should be united. We are too republicans in nature and it’s not helping us. We should try and come together as members of one nation and speak with one voice. I’ve always believed in speaking with one voice. But most times, we seem not to respect our leaders, which is not good.
But again, the leaders, too, should reciprocate that respect, because respect is reciprocal. So my advice generally is there should be a free and fair, transparent election, so that everybody will be happy with the outcome. It’s when things are not done transparently that you begin to have some backlash of complaints and protests and whatever. Urhobos don’t need that.
