From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa 

The Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) has demanded for the confirmation of Dr Iwekumo Wanton as the Rector of the Federal Polytechnic (Oil and Gas), Ekeowe in Southern Ijaw Local Government area of the Bayelsa State.

The organisation called on President Muhammadu Buhari to caution the Minister of State for Education, Hon. Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba over his alleged meddlesome posture in frustrating the emergence of Wanton as the Rector.

The IYC in a press conference addressed by its national spokesman, Mr Ebilade Ekerefe over the weekend noted that despite the emergence of Dr Wanton under a selection process that was certified free, fair and transparent, the decision by Nwajiuba to overrule the efforts and refused to certify the substantive status four months after the selection process is provocative and acts capable of distrusting the President Buhari administration achievements in the institution.

The group which stated it is disturbed, saddened and angry at the mysterious delay in the appointment of a substantive Rector for the institution despite the authentication of the selection process by the Federal Character Commission and the Minster of Education, Adamu Adamu, stressed that the actions of Nwajiuba is being perceived as political, sectional and targeted at the Ijaws. According to Ekerefe, despite the many unresolved issues between the President Buhari administration and the Ijaw nation, the inclusion of Federal Polytechnic, Ekeowe as part of unresolved issues is capable of heating up the region and disrupts the existing peace.

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The statement read in part ”The IYC frown at the sudden interruption in the process as a deliberate attempt by adversaries of the ijaw people to further deprive the ijaw nation of the service of one of its finest breed who is committed in moving the institution forward and competing actively in the academic space.

“We want to call on President Muhammadu Buhari to call the Minister of State for Education to order immediately direct the confirmation of Dr. Iwekumo Wanton as the substantive Rector of the Institution. We warn that any plan to experiment with the destiny of the ijaw people is a joke taken too far, and will be fully resisted with the might of the spirit of Adaka.

“It is our conviction that the President fully appreciates the unique peculiarities of the area, and that the location of the institution in a rural, coastal community of Ekeowe requires that any individual appointed to oversee the affairs of the Polytechnic must be thoroughly conversant with the terrain and environment challenges. One of the reasons in advancing our support for his appointment as substantive Rector is the fact that he is the very first as head of the institution to reside fully in the polytechnic campus.

“By this, he has effectively mobilized his management team and all members of staff to fully operate on the campus. This is against the practice of overseeing the affairs of the Institution from Yenagoa as it was in the past.”