I Left Service Without A Query, Invitation From ICPC, EFCC – Echono

A former Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Sonny Echono has said that he spent 35 years in service without receiving any query for any wrongdoing.

He also said he never received any invitation from the two anti-graft agencies- the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to “give an explanation on something unclear to them.”

“By virtue of destiny, I served in most of the difficult Ministries, and God helped me to record great successes in each of them. By the Grace of God, I am leaving this Ministry without a query or an invitation from the EFCC or ICPC to come give an explanation on something unclear to them,” he said while bowing out of service on Friday.

He added: “However, my experience and knowledge of Nigeria and public service would have been totally different if I wasn’t posted to serve in the Ministry of Education. My serving here exposed me to lots of things I never knew.

“I had the privilege to work with different people, including development partners, SUBEB, commissioners and several other stakeholders. The education sector is the largest in the public service. Our staff alone is a quarter of the entire civil service workforce.”

Echono officially handed over the reins of governance to the Director, Human Resource in the ministry, David Gende, in a brief event witnessed by Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, some heads of parastatals and directors and management staff of the ministry on Thursday in Abuja.

He said he was grateful to God and country for the opportunity to serve in such capacity.

He also appreciated the opportunity and trust he enjoyed from the Ministers of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu and Nwajiuba, senior management staff of the Ministry, development partners and other stakeholders, which was responsible for the success that he achieved in the Ministry.

In his valedictory speech, Echono stressed the need for more attention to be paid in educating the larger population of Nigeria, stating that such is the panacea to the high rate of insecurity and unemployment in Nigeria.

He said: “We must be prepared to compete in the knowledge economy that’s ruling the world. A lot of things are being unravelled by technology, and we can no longer pretend not to be aware of what’s happening.

“We must, unarguably, provide quality education that would help our people fend for themselves and contribute to the socioeconomic development of Nigeria and the world.

“If we train our people well and give them the relevant education, they would create employment for themselves and not wait for us on the highway to kidnap us. It’s the responsibility of all to achieve that, and we must prepare our citizens for the challenge ahead.

He thanked the President, Muhammadu Buhari, for the support, particularly the fact that there was never a memo that was taken to the President from the Ministry that was rejected.

Nwajiuba, in his remarks, thanked the outgoing Permanent Secretary for his service to the Ministry and the entire country.

The minister made the startling revelation that overtures made to elongate the tenure of Echono failed partly because he rejected it and that President Muhammadu Buhari might not be disposed to it.

He said: “Towards the close of the year last year, I told Mallam Adamu Adamu that you are the ones in power; can’t we extend this man’s stay here? And Mallam said he was not sure if he can do that because things have changed a little bit and our President will not listen to that any longer.

“I tried to tempt the Permanent Secretary and said please, can we employ you in some other areas to see if we can keep you? And he said he is advising us to respect ourselves and try to allow him some kind of time to rest, that he has actually worked hard and would not try to kill himself. But we really tried all kinds of gimmicks to persuade him.

“So, when I heard Professor Ajiboye saying that we can’t afford to let him go, he was not only reflecting on his exit but the service he gave to the country at the highest level,” Nwajiuba said.

Registrar and Chief Executive of Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN), Prof Josiah Ajiboye, who spoke on behalf of other Chief Executives of Parastatals and Agencies under the Federal Ministry of Education, said Echono had been the life wire of the Ministry and that the education sector could not afford to let him go because of his dynamism and versatility.

He noted that his exit has created a great challenge for anybody who would take over from him “because you have enlarged the shoes.”