A group under the aegis of Strategic Media Centre for Projects Monitoring And Evaluation, which comprises of the media and civil society organizations, on May 10 ,2024 honored the executive chairman, Rivers State Universal Basic Education Board, Ven Fyneface Ndubuisi Akah, phD, DSSRS JP, with its Lifetime Achievement Award. The award was based was on a thorough investigation by the Strategic Media Centre for Projects Monitoring and Evaluation on the activities and achievements of the board chairman since assumption of office.
Earlier, the coordinator and chairman South-South Zone of the Civil Liberties organization, Sir. Hon Karl Chinedu Uchegbu explained that what propelled the award on the executive chairman Rivers State Universal Basic Education Board, Ven Fyneface Ndubuisi Akah was due to negative narratives being hurled around in the media, insinuating that all was not well at the Rivers State Universal Basic Education Board. There were allegations against the chairman for non-performance despite the funds available to the board to improve the standard of the UBE. Being a proactive group, Strategic Media Centre for Projects Monitoring And Evaluation, launched an investigation to unravel the true state of things at the Board. In the course of the investigations, it was discovered that quite to the contrary, the Dr Fyneface Akah led board, was not only paying workers’ salaries promptly, but had built and renovated so many schools across the 23 local government area of Rivers.
Strategic Media Centre for Projects Monitoring and Evaluation disclosed that such a man who has done so much to improve the standard of the universal basic education board, rather than being condemned and criticized, deserved to be commended and appreciated.
The Strategic Media Centre for Projects Monitoring and Evaluation maintained that Ven. Fyneface Ndubuisi Akah was the kind of man or administrator the society needs. Such a man that has the development of the state at heart needs to be encouraged so that he can do more for the state.
The chairman of the Association of Field Reporters in RIvers state, Wariso Wariso, while citing the achievements of Dr Fyneface Akah said that the UBE Board under Dr Fyneface Akah’s supervision has tremendously changed the negative narratives in UBE board, through his pro activeness that has totally overhauled the administrative lapses of the board and thus he has given the place a new look.
Wariso asserted that the only way to encourage someone who has done so well administratively and or in governance is to tell the person thank you and well done so that he can do more.
In his response, the executive chairman Rivers state universal basic education board Ven. Fyneface Ndubuisi Akah phD expressed gratitude to the group for the honor done him. Ven. Akah commended the group for their independent investigations, affirming that all that was said about his achievements in the UBE were all correct. He also expressed surprise that a group of people, such as the Strategic Media Centre for Projects Monitoring and Evaluation can come together to carry out an independent investigations on the activities of the board, and therefore, he commended the group for a job well done.
Akah used the opportunity to acknowledge that of a truth, there were a series of petitions and sponsored campaign of calumny against the board by some persons in the state, saying that his tenure of office had elapsed and he did not achieve anything, pointing out that the award of honor on his by the Strategic Media Centre for Projects Monitoring And Evaluation has disproved all his detractors.
He expected happiness that the award came when his tenure of office is almost elapsing and most importantly the award was based on his achievements, arising from an independent investigation on the activities of the board for the period under review.