31ST ANNUAL CONGRESS LECTURE

Chairman of Session

Distinguished Veterans

ANCOPSS State President

Member of the SEC

Noble Colleagues

Ladies and Gentlemen

Glory to the Almighty, the Lord of the worlds, for making it possible to converge again this year, for the 2021 ANCOPSS State Congress. Honour, praise and adoration to Him for enabling us to cruise through the thick and thin of our profession, for up keeping members of the confederation and our families, our preservation and His manifest hands in all our endeavors. We equally appreciate all individuals and corporate bodies that have partnered with us in one way or the other. We recognize the contributions of our Veterans and their body-- the ARESPPSS in the affairs of ANCOPSS and on education in our state. We salute you and beseech God to endure your lives in good health and abundant means. We also appreciate the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT), Ministry of Education, SUBEB and Education District Offices.

ANCOPSS NEC MEETING:- I wish to report that only one meeting of NEC was convened since December 2020. The inability to hold meetings was attributed mainly to movement restriction resulting from COVID-19 Pandemic, as well as the general insecurity in Nigeria, and particularly in Imo State where the first NEC meeting was scheduled to have been held in March.

However, the Osun State President and Secretary did attend a NEC meeting between 2nd and 4th of August, 2021. The meeting which was held at the ANCOPSS National Secretariat Kuje Road, Abuja had three major objectives.

a. To make final preparation for the African Congress of Principals.

b. To commission the ANCOPSS Secretariat Hall for use and

c. To seek ratification for a possible postponement of National Congress till October, this last year objective was unanimously rejected by NEC members.

ELOOOO BLOC MEETING:- Three meetings of the South-West Regional ANCOPSS executive were held within the period. Firstly, an emergency meeting at Grand Style Hotel, Lisabi Grammar School Road, Abeokuta on 9th February, 2021. Also, a biannual bloc meeting came up between 14th and 15th April, 2001 at Fountain Hotel Complex, Iyin Road, Ado-Ekiti.

Finally on 16th July, 2021, another meeting was held at Ghatview Hotel Ltd, Adekunle Lagos, which was aimed at assessing the preparedness of ELOOOO States for the Abuja ACP and also the share experiences which would be mutually beneficial to member states and enhance academic excellence.

SEC MEETING:- Regular rotational SEC meetings were held, with each of the 6 zones in the state taking its turn to host the SEC. The essence of these rotational meetings is to acquaint SEC members with peculiar situations in other areas, tap from their experience, identify challenges and proffer common panacea to such challenges. In addition to the above are emergency meetings which are summoned to address emerging situations.

AFRICAN CONGRESS OF PRINCIPALS:- Against all expectations, due to COVID-19,the African Congress of Principals was held between 16th and 21st August, 2021. 116 Principals from Osun State attended the congress. in addition , we were honoured by the attendance of our highly esteemed Tutor Generals and five Veterans.in all, the State ANCOPSS committed Nine Million, Seven Hundred and Seventy Three Thousand Naira. (#9,773,000) to the coffer of the National body for congress materials.

Seventeen lectures were delivered at the ACP and Nigeria assumed duty as the seat of the ACP President. Also, a change in guard at the National body or the confederation was done, which was completed with the handing over on 11th October, 2021.

On ACP 2021, the leadership of the State ANCOPSS once again wishes to express her profound gratitude to our Tutor-Generals for their show of love and comradeship: our veterans including past president Mr Abiodun Abiosun, former State Secretary, Mrs Olubunmi Tinubu, former Tutor-General, Mr Gbenga Oriowo, former zonal chairmen for Ijesha and Ife zones, Messrs Daramola and Omigbule. We equally appreciate all veterans who through prayers and phone calls identified with us. We laud all principals who despite the threat of insecurity made it to Abuja, and all others who bore financial sacrifice. We pray that God will recompense you appropriately.

ANCOPSS STAKEHOLDERS: ANCOPSS has maintained a favourable relationship with our stakeholders in the education industry. These stakeholders include the following;

a. Osun State Government: a very robust relationship subsists between our State Government and our confederation. Through the Ministry of Education, Government has unfolded her policies to the principals. Also, ANCOPSS leadership from time to time meets with the Honourable Commissioner for Education and Special Adviser to the Governor on Education. The Commissioner and his team had met with the whole body of ANCOPSS twice in the course of the year, the last being on Tuesday 2nd October, 2021, at Osogbo Grammar School.

ANCOPSS leadership is often intimated about infractions committed by erring principals in the discharge of their duties, while the Commissioner, in his magnanimity, permits our disciplinary committee to investigate and apply appropriate punitive measures. This underscores the confidence reposed on ANCOPSS by the Commissioner. Apart from the political functionaries, ANCOPSS relates well with the career officers in the Ministry of Education such as the C. D. Mrs C.K. Olaniyan and the Director of schools, Dr Mrs Adeagbo and all other officers. I want to report that a cordial relationship exists between us and SUBEB. In the course of the year, our leadership met with the Auditor General and his team to rub minds together on grey areas of school auditing.

NUT: ANCOPSS has maintained a very harmonious relationship with our Mother Union. The State President is a member of the NUT Standing Committee and has played that role effectively. Both the President and Secretary regularly attend the NUT SWEC meetings and all other meetings summoned by the State Leadership of NUT.

EXAMINATION BODIES: The Confederation has kept a very cordial relationship with examination bodies. In particular, ANCOPSS was involved in critical decision relating to appointment of WAEC Supervisor and this has greatly reduced the incidence of examination malpractice. In addition, we are often invited to join other stakeholders in the State Council meeting of WAEC where report of her various activities for the year are given. Our relationship with NECO, NABTEB and JAMB have remained very cordial. It is also important to report that Osun State Examination Board, of which the State President is a member, sometimes, seeks our opinion on certain issues. However, we appeal that her bond with the State ANCOPSS be further strengthened in order to ameliorate the problems noticed in the last Unified Promotion Examination.

ACHIEVEMENT

1. To God be the glory. The integrity of the Confederation has been sustained through purposeful and forthright leadership. The posture of our leadership to misdemeanor has compelled principals to tow the path or integrity and honour.

2. Our successful participation in the Abuja 2021 ACP in which 116 Principals from Osun State participated was no mean achievement.

3. After more than five terms, running grants have resumed, even though inconsistently. Some would argue that the grant was paltry, but it is better than nothing at all. Also, for the first time, grant took cognizance of schools with small enrolment as the benchmark. This achievement was due to the unrelenting efforts of the ANCOPSS Leadership. We must also recognize the contributions of our fathers in AREPPSS as well as the state parent forum executive led by the indefatigable Comrade Bisi Olaniyan; as well as the NUT. We are still expecting SUBEB to stretch their hands to schools regarding the junior grants for 2020/2021 session.

CHALLENGES OF ANCOPSS, PRINCIPALS AND SCHOOL SYSTEM

1. There has been a gradual and systematic usurpation of powers and diminution in the initiative, influence and authority of principals. The ingenuity of principals no longer counts as all decision tend to be centralized e.g. the issue of admission of students as well as UPE. ANCOPSS requests for a greater involvement of principals in the admission process. In the same vein, we appeal that the UPE be limited to JSS 2 and SS 3 classes while principals should administer promotion examination in other classes.

2. Inadequate Teaching and Non-Teaching personnel remains a lingering challenge to all public secondary schools. People retire on a daily basis without them being replaced. Ad-hoc personnel such as NYSC and ‘N’ Teach are very little value to the system. ANCOPSS is constrained to request our State Government policy of 40/65 years for Teachers. It is a proposal which serves political, social and economic expediency.

Politically, it will stem the increase in the soldiers of protesters of senior citizen agitating for their gratuity and portraying the government in black. By so doing, government would struggle to pay accumulated gratuities of the current retirees and delay further addition to the flood till sometime in the future when the state economy would have improved.

It will also depict the government as humane and socially just – one with human face as against the situation of retirement without benefit for upward of 5 years, thereby subjecting retirees to untold hardship and in many cases untimely death. Lastly, it will conserve a cream of experienced teachers who will groom the next breed of school managers and teachers.

3. There is also the challenge of gross inadequacy of instructional materials which puts a ceiling on the ingenuity of teachers.

4. The problem of security is very germane to the present day schools, but the security of school property due to absence of day and night guards needs to be urgently addressed.

5. BOG and Old students’ intervention in schools is a welcome development but when they become overbearing, it creates a stress in the school system. We loathe the idea of old students of schools rejecting a particular principal and showing preference for another, or where BOG seeks to take over the management of the system from the principal.

ADMONITION FOR MY NOBLE COLLEAGUES

Our dear state is known as the state of the virtues. Since we are leaders that build leaders, to build future virtuous leaders, we must be forthright and embrace integrity in its entirety, since we can only give what we have. We must eschew all acts likely to ridicule and undermine the exalted position of principals, and especially, the Osun State principals whom our honourable commissioner once described as ‘miracle or magic workers’.

OUR LOSS

It is with great sadness that I report the loss of two female colleagues from Ikirun zone during the year. Mrs Adenike Oyeniyi was a principal at Holy Trinity High School Ikirun. She was part of the delegate to the ACP. Her departure on August 31st was very sadden. Mrs Cecilia O. Popoola, a principal at African Church Grammar School Idi-Olo Ikirun transited to eternal glory on 22nd September, 2021. She had been sick for a while before the death. We pray to God for the repose of their souls; for their family to console them and to grant members of the confederation longevity.

CONCLUSION

I want to conclude this report with profound gratitude to God, our power and sustainer without whom nothing would have been possible. We appreciate all our guests for honouring us with their presence. I salute the State President for being purposeful. I cannot but laud members of the standing committee; State, Zonal and Unit Exco of ANCOPSS for their resiliency, in the face of challenges and their personal sacrifices to continue to sustain the system and all principals in Osun State for moral, spiritual and financial support at all times. By the grace of God. We shall all end well.

Thank you all.

Long live ANCOPSS!!

Long live Osun State!!

Long live NIGERIA!!