Cross River government suspends permanent secretary over suspension of morning devotion in schools

The Cross River State government has indefinitely suspended the Permanent Secretary of the state Ministry of Education Anne Odey, who last week released a statement suspending all forms of morning devotion in schools across the country.

The State Security Adviser (SSA) to Governor Ben Ayade, Jude Ngaji who made this known to newsmen yesterday in Calabar, explained that indeed the state police commissioner, Henry Fadairo, had contacted the state ministry of Education about a possible attack by Boko haram members during early morning and afternoon devotions in various schools.

Ngaji said the permanent secretary unilaterally took the decision of suspending the age long practice of morning devotions in the state, without consulting the state governor.

"The governor has directed that the permanent secretary be suspended indefinitely while the ban on suspension of devotion has been lifted immediately. It is true that police got intelligence information that Boko Haram is planning to bomb schools during morning devotions and therefore directed authorities in the Ministry of Education to act fast.
But the permanent secretary did not bother to refer to the governor or call for stakeholders’ meeting to that effect.

So, the governor feels pained that the permanent secretary got such sensitive information without seeking for his advice and went ahead to issue directive suspending morning devotions in schools," he said.

He added that the governor is a strong believer in God and will not do anything that will prevent people from worshiping God.