Why Credit Should Go To Ebie and Okowa, For Delta 2019 Transparent Recruitment Of One Thousand Teachers, by Jerome-Mario Utomi

Recently, precisely on August 11, 2024, the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), in an investigative report, titled ‘’Edozie Godwin; the Lecturer Who Ensured Recruitment into Delta State Education Service Was Merit-Based’’ championed by Accountability Lab Nigeria and sponsored by The John D. and Catherine D. MacArthur Foundation and Luminate, revealed how the Delta State Government in 2019 achieved a record breaking and of course, the most transparent recruitment of one thousand (1000) Teachers, posted across secondary schools in the state.

A private chat by this author with Dr. Godwin Edozie, former Senior Special Assistant to the Governor (Office of the Secretary to the State Government SSG) who doubles as the man that reportedly midwifed the project, revealed that the credit should really go to Mr. Chiedu Ebie and his team, who as the then Honourable Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education and later Secretary to the State Government, drove the process with unalloyed transparency, and the immediate past governor of the state, Senator (Dr.) Ifeanyi Okowa, for providing the needed political will and support for the process.

Edozie said; We were technocrats behind the scene who provided the needed benchmark that made it credible. For example, everything about the item generation, everything about sourcing resource persons for the process was handled professionally. The professors and other members of the academia who did the interview, were persons of repute and integrity. And then, all the items (questions) from resource persons for each subject area were harvested from at least three examiners and fed to a software that juggled them and created parallel test items. This sealed leakage of any kind. So, the software selected all the final ones that came out. Through the Computer Based Test (CBT), applicants got their scores instantly, which also foreclosed any attempt to alter the scores. An independent IT firm, Dragnet Solutions Limited handled the CBT. At the end of the day, rigorous interviews were conducted. And you know, people could not even go to the Governor nor any highly placed person to lobby. Credit goes to him. Just like people talk about me, I say its Chiedu Ebie, who is IT savvy and engaged Dragnet who had been performing similar projects for oil companies and multinationals. If you talk to Chiedu about the success of the recruitment, he’ll say the then Governor gave him the leverage and approved the process and funds. So, I am the one now saying that credit should actually go to Mr. Chiedu Ebie and Governor Okowa. So, that’s the balance. It is one of the major achievements of Chiedu Ebie as Honourable Commissioner.’’ He concluded.

Indeed, while Dr. Edozie’s comment on both individuals are celebrated, this piece is, however, not surprised at the Commissioner’s position, transparency and merit, because, aside from the referenced achievement, there exists also, a veiled agreement among deltans with critical minds, that the Agbor Alidinma, Delta state born Chiedu Ebie, is not only experienced in transformational leadership but amply qualifies as ‘’transformation personified’’.

For instance, after 22 years of legal practice in the private sector, he transformed to the public sector with his appointment into the Delta State Government as a member of the State Executive Council and Commissioner for Basic & Secondary Education. While serving in this capacity between July 2015 to May 2019, he reportedly ensured significant reforms and improvements to bear in the primary and secondary educational sector of Delta State.

On the 3rd of June, 2019, Chiedu in a similar vein, transformed to the position of Secretary to the Delta State Government. Alluding to his strong qualities and dedication to serve, during his inauguration as SSG, the then Delta state Governor made the following statements about him; “Mr. Ebie is a fine gentleman who served meritoriously as Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education in the first tenure of his administration. His civility, analytical indept, communication skills and diligence are essential qualities needed for the office of the Secretary to the State Government. In addition to these, modern statecraft, with all its complexities and challenges, requires team players, proactive leaders and men with a large appetite for work. Mr. Ebie meets these criteria and I am convinced that he is well equipped to enrich the social, political and economic narrative of our dear State”.

Ebie went on to hold the position of Secretary to the State Government until the dissolution of the State Executive Council on the 18th of May, 2021.

Beyond being reputed for good quality public service delivery at any given position, there exists yet an accompanying belief that the family is famous for transparency, professionalism and achievement of organizational excellence.

Alluding to this fact is the awareness that his father, late Prof. John C. Ebie, was the pioneer Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital UBTH, Benin City, Edo State.

As the pioneer Chief Medical Director of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, a heath institution established in May, 1973, he navigated the health institution to an enviable world class health provider. He creatively brought together within the same organization different people with different experiences, assumptions, values, beliefs and habits to their work and provided direction, protection, orientation, managed conflicts, shaped norms and possessed the emotional capacity to tolerate uncertainty, frustrations and pains and raised tough questions without getting anxious himself.

In recognition of this sterling and selfless public leadership provision, the late Prof. Ebie was on Friday, 15th December, 2023, bestowed with a posthumous award of excellence by the Association of Resident Doctors, University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) Chapter, Benin City.
In a related development, Chiedu Ebie had an uncle, Sir. S. P. O Fortune Ebie who was the Chief Executive of Federal Housing Authority (FHA) that planned and executed the building of what still today is the biggest Housing Estate in Nigeria, the FESTAC Housing Estate in Lagos, Nigeria.

On his part, Chiedu Ebie who currently functions as the Chairman, Governing Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), has together with members of the board and management proved beyond reasonable doubt, and to the admiration of stakeholders that they are blessed with wisdom for conceiving fresh beginning and more focused efforts on development of the Niger Delta region and its people like has never been since the inception of the Commission.

Finally, in addition to living a life of integrity and simplicity, shunning the selfishness that has in the past marred much of such positions, Mr. Chiedu, going by commentaries, is Chairing the Board of the Commission with the consciousness that as a leader, he is being watched closely, that people are noting his every move, that his followers are learning a great deal about him and what he really believes in as opposed to what he says.

Utomi, A Communicator, Writes From Lagos, Nigeria. He could be reached via; jeromeutomi@yahoo.com or 08032725374.