GCUOBA seeks Government intervention over mismanagement and abuse of the school’s rich legacies

Government College Umuahia Old Boys Association has appealed to the state government to intervene in the rot,abuse and mismanagement of the once revered school by the Old boys under FEDT(Fisher Education Trust Fund)currently in charge of the school’s administration.

In a petition addressed to the State house of assembly by the petitioner who also represents the GCUOBA Arc Chidi Onwudinanti ably represented by Ugochukwu C.Zik Esq who is equally an old boy of Government college umuahia.

Ugochukwu Esq while addressing the members of the house of assembly joint committee of education,public petitions and judiciary led by Hon Emeka Obioma,member representing Umuahia north state constituency and other members of the old boys at the Abia state house of assembly complex Umuahia lamented the sorry state of the once reverred institution which has produced noble men across all walks of life.

According to the lawyer “sometimes around 21st July 2014 the Abia state government entered a memorandum of understanding (Mou) with the GCUOBA for the GCUOBA wherein the Abia state government agreed to create a trust over Government college Umuahia.

And to appoint GCUOBA (Government college Umuahia Old boys Association) as “trustees” to the trust for GCUOBA to take over the ownership of government college as “trustee” under a trust.Inorder to give effect to the provisions of MOU,the GCUOBA incorporated a trust known as fisher Education Trust Fund(FEDT) inorder to segregate the GCUOBA’s sundry activities as an Old Boy’s Association from its duties as trustee of the education trust.

FEDT(Fisher Education Trust Fund) was incorporated as Special purpose vehicle(SPV) that shall solely focus on running the school based on GCUOBA’,s vision of bringing back the school to its original standard.In exercise of GCUOBA’s obligation as agreed in the MOU.This decision was brought to the knowledge of the Abia state government which was accepted by her.

Consequent upon the foregoing background,a Deed of Trust was executed to give effect to the provisions of the MOU.The Deed has the ABSG as settler ,GCUOBA and the FEDT as the Trustee.it is noteworthy that the paragraphs C to E and 13(a) of the Deed of
Trust expressly states these foregoing facts.

It is equally noteworthy that the National President of the GCUOBA at the time that applied to the state government for the issuance of Certificate of Occupancy over Government college Umuahia thus the ownership of GCU(Government College Umuahia) was accordingly handed over to GCUOBA through FEDT which is the special purpose vehicle by which the GCUOBA took back the school.

He expressed deep worry and concern that a few years after the successful take over of the school by the oldboys.it dawned on the constituent and a vast majority of the public that the school was being run contrary to the purpose for which it was handed over to the Old Boys by the Abia state government.

Some of the anomalies witnessed since the take over by the old boys under the FEDT includes:

Inability of children from poor backgrounds to access the school due to exorbitant fees which is pegged at over # 1,000,000(1m) per session. The management of the school have turned it to a private school which only the bourgeois class can afford while neglecting the average and poor families which goes against the original ideals of the school.

He stressed further that many of them wouldn’t have been privileged to attend Government college Umuahia back then if the managers of the school were inconsiderate to the poor by charging exorbitant fees just as the current managers are doing now. They gave a level playing ground to both the rich and the poor which is the core mandate of the school.

He also regrettably stated that the present managers of government college Umuahia are speedily destroying the arcane and archival history, monuments and traditions as well as the sentimental values that make GCU what it is.

“The conservative school uniform(Pink and brown) have been changed ,the upper and lower fields have been fenced by the school managers.worse still,the iconic AD block (the global symbol of Umuahia) been left in decay and ruin.ancient and archival structures like Gozens house,wareham House and school house have been pulled down and converted to a lawn.the speedy vandalization of these archival assets run contrary to the charge given by ABSG to the old boys to upgrade and not to destroy it”.

He further decried the nonchalant attitude of the olds boys who always feign ignorance when approached by the GCUOBA to tell them how they’re running the school who maintained that they’re no longer answerable to the GCUOBA or either the government but rather an independent body.

He equally revealed that out of the Members constituting the FEDT that the state government has no representative since 2015.

“As we speak there’s no member representing the ABSG.the last time anybody represented Abia state government was in 2015( late Micah Onyebuchi then head of ASUBEB and Monica Philips former Commissioner of education) therefore in effect Abia Government has no input or oversight function whatsoever into how its pre-eminent secondary school Government College Umuahia has been run since 2015”.

The managers of the school under FEDT has mismanaged and plundered the school despite the old boys huge monetary contribution running into billions to resuscitate and revive the lost glory of this great school.

Ugochukwu Esq who represents the petitioner Arc Chukwudi Onwudinanti on behalf of the GCUOBA therefore called on the government to intervene in the matter and therefore made some demands which includes:

1.That the whole agreement between Abia state government and GCUOBA be reexamined and redrawn to ensure that the Government college Umuahia and its assets remain the property of Abia state government and the people

2.the management body reconstituted to represent and protect the interest of Abia state government,GCUOBA and the public

3.the new body to determine and evaluate the fees and uniform of GCU to reflect the interest of the public while retaining the essence of GCU as a state heritage and landmark of historic value in the state.

4.that the certificate of occupancy of occupancy(COC) of GCU land and assets be returned immediately to the Abia state government.

5.That GCU be pronounced without equivocation to be a public school owned by Abia state government run and managed by GCUOBA

The National President of GCUOBA Dr Chinedum Ahaiwe while speaking still echoed the same sentiment by the petitioner and therefore begged the state house of assembly and Dr Alex Otti led government to make sure that Government College Umuahia returns to its past glory by taking all necessary actions required of them via reviewing all the agreements reached with the FEDT to make sure the school is once again properly managed,affordable for all students both rich and poor and also adequately represents the interest of the general public.

He equally expressed confidence that house members present during the hearing through their calm countenance will do everything within their power to resolve this issue facing the once reverred Government College Umuahia.

The deputy speaker and member representing Umuahia East state constituency Rt Hon Austin Ugochukwu Meregini while speaking with newsmen at the end of the public hearing said

“this hearing is an attempt to settle a misunderstanding between two brothers, at this stage the joint committee on public petition and education are just getting to know the matter on ground

We’ve heard from GCUOBA and on Thursday 27th March when sitting will hold again ,FEDT will also be here to defend themselves after which compromise will be reached.

He stated that the committee is holding forth their opinion until they get all the facts from the petitioner GCUOBA and FEDT which will enable them come up with a report
and therefore expressed confidence that the whole issue will be resolved amicably.