X-raying Imo State Secondary Education Management Board (SEMB) under Dame Augustina Azubuike

By Pascal Njoku

The Secondary Education Management Board (SEMB), is the body responsible for the management and control of all post- primary schools within the meaning of Education law.

The Board is saddled with the responsibilities of appointments, promotions, posting and transfer of all cadres in the school system, including Principals,Vice Principals, Teachers and other staff of the Board.Other duties of the Board include; Staff development matters, such as approval of study and special leave, overall disciplinary control of the Board and educators, periodic and regular supervision of all post- primary schools in the State, confirmation of appointments, conversion and up-grading and re- instatement matters amongst others.

Judging from the above listed duties, one will agree that duties of the Executive Secretary who is at the helm of affairs is enormous and calls for a seasoned and experienced administrator whose administrative prowess is not in doubt and that is why Augustina Azubuike’s leadership style is the answer.

Mindedly, leadership is not a position or title,it is action and example.Some Schools of thought believe leaders possess innate traits that distinguish them, while others argue that leadership qualities can be developed through learning.

According to Erskine Bowels, leadership is the key to 99% of all successful efforts.

Some argue that leaders are born and not made, while some are of the opinion that leaders are made and not born .A leader is someone who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way.While best leaders are those who serve others, not their own ambitions.

Going by definitions of leadership, suffice it to say that Dame Augustina Azubuike is a born leader.

Since she assumed duty as the Executive Secretary of Imo State Secondary Education Management Board, the office has witnessed great transformation.I stand to say that she is a born leader judging from her antecedents from primary school to date. From her Primary School days, it will interest you to know that Augustina served as class monitor (prefect) from her primary 3 to primary 6.In her primary 6, she was appointed Head Girl.Her leadership qualities and administrative ingenuity did not stop at primary school.She seemingly served as Senior Prefect (SP) of the prestigious Government Girls Secondary School Port-Harcourt, apart from being the class prefect from class 1 to 5. Just like the Presidential candidate of Labour Party, Sir Peter Obi will say ” GO AND VERIFY”. The above stated facts are verifiable.Tina Azubuike flew aeroplane first time in her life as a student when she was selected to represent her school in quiz competition as a young girl.

Her education spanned from Rivers State College of Education and University of Port-Harcourt where she majored in Mathematics and Chemistry.A certified teacher, mathematician/chemist that has produced over 5000 scientists from Imo State, having taught chemistry and mathematics for over 12 years at Girls Secondary School Ikenegbu,Owerri, before her promotion as principal where she served at Secondary Technical School Akokwa and Okporo Technical School Orlu before His Excellency, Senator Hope Uzodimma deemed her fit and appointed her as the Executive Secretary Secondary Education Management Board on July 10, 2023,a position she is still occupying till date and has made positive impacts.

Apart from teaching and administrative work, she is very active in community service and was one time Public Relations Officer of All Nigeria Conference of Principals ANCOPS, Imo State Chapter.

You would recall that since Agustina Azubuike assumed office as the Executive Secretary of SEMB, the Board has recorded tremendous achievements.

Under her watch, everything concerning teachers promotion as directed by the Executive Governor has been completed.

Bearing in mind the importance of security of lives and property, she embarked on perimeter fencing of the zonal Board office along MCC road.

In a bid to discover new talents and support sports development in the State, she mandated all the secondary schools in the State to organize Inter-House Sports competition which was carried out to the later.Considering the importance of in-service training amongst workers, she organised a leadership training seminar for all principals in the State.Poised at ensuring that her staff are not left out in e-Education/Administration and coupled with technology advancement in the present 21st century, she bought 10 laptops that were distributed to Directors and 2 printers for office use. The obsolete wooden racks in the file room were replaced with modern steel file cabinet and all the unfunctional air condtioners repaired.

To ensure smooth running of her office, she went on to procure all the cables vandalized in the office and restored  electricity, so that workers are not thrown into darkness.

As a way of encouraging food security and subsistence agriculture in line with President Tinubu’s vision, she organised Agric competition amongst secondary schools in the State on zonal basis and went further to repair leaking roofs of two zonal board offices at Okigwe and Orlu.

She also monitored WAEC and NECO exams across the zones in order to ensure best practices and checkmate exam malpractice.

As we speak, through her instrumentality 80% of secondary schools in Imo State now have Young Farmers Club and she ensured that school garden project which is the pet project of Mr President’s wife is fulfilled, as almost all the secondary schools in the State can now boast of school garden.

Some abandoned vehicles of the Board  have been repaired and she participated actively in the 2025 World Education Day celebration by visiting schools to ensure that they complied.

Under the present Executive Secretary, SEMB staff have never been found wanting in adhering to superior directives, as they have always joined other ministries and parastatals to carry out the compulsory monthly environmental exercise  directed by the Head Of Service.

The welfare of her staff has remained her major concern,as she ensured that staff that had problem and their salary suspended were sorted out and restored.

Without bias, permit me to say that Augustina Azubuike’s administrative prowess and sagacity is incomparable judging from her actions.

She suspended and demoted principals that erred, some of them supposedly her friends to the astonishment of other workers not minding whose ox is gored, an action that can only be taken by a few.lt is only a man with heart of a lion will have the power to do that.

Disciplinary actions were meted out on those found guilty  not minding how connected they were and that singular action of hers can only be done by an administrator with guts.This decision brought envy and jealousy for her among her contemporaries.

Generally, human beings are known to align with the libertarian theory, they hate work, yet seek to be remunerated.

Under Tina’s watch, such theories are unworkable.

Prior to her appointment, SEMB was alleged to be in a mess, as corruption was said to be the order of the day.It was alleged that in the past, principals pay huge sums of money to be posted to schools with high population.The Akokwa-born administrator came and changed the narratives, an action which the gullible  never liked and welcomed.

She storm into schools unannounced for monitoring and evaluation.She proved her mettle as an intelligent science teacher recently to the amazement of three Commissioners and President Tinubu’s appointee during the official commissioning of science equipment donated to Secondary Technical School Omuma by NOTAP.The way and manner she explained the uses of the laboratories equipment to be installed in the up- graded chemistry lab of the school, attracted a great applaud to her from the Abuja visitors to the extent that one of them said”if we had known that she is well grounded in chemistry,we could have contracted her to train the trainers”.

It is a natural phenomenon that once you excel and distinguish yourself in a given task,it is bound to attract envy and jealousy.An igbo adage says” onye ma akwa okwa na achi ya”which literally means that experience is the best teacher.

It is said that one can not prepare omelette without  breaking an egg.To err they say is human, but to forgive is divine.

” Ka chineke mezie okwu!