Ijaw Youths from the nine States of the Niger Delta region have urged President Muhammadu Buhari to caution the Minister of State for Education, Hon. Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, over his alleged meddlesome posture over the emergence of Dr. Iwekumo Wanton as the Rector of the Federal Polytechnic (Oil and Gas), Ekeowe in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.
According to the youths under the aegis of the Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) worldwide, despite the emergence of Dr. Iwekumo Wanton under a selection process that was certified free, fair and transparent, the decision by the Minister of State for Education, Hon. Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, to overrule the efforts and refusal to certify the substantive status of Dr. Iwekumo Wanton as Rector four months after the selection process was provocative.
The group also noted that the act was capable of discrediting the President Buhari administration’s achievements in the institution.
In a statement, issued to DAILY POST on Sunday in Yenagoa, through its National Spokesman, Comrade Ebilade Ekerefe, he said that the ijaw youths were 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 Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu.
He said the actions of the Junior Minister, Hon. Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba was being perceived as political, sectional and targeted at the indigenes of the region.
According to Ekerefe, despite the many unresolved issues between the President Buhari administration and the Ijaw nation, the inclusion of Dr. Iwekumo Wanton and Federal Polytechnic, Ekeowe on the plate was capable of heating up the region and disrupting the existing peace.
“The IYC frowns 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 first 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 and should 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,” he stated.