Group fingers education minister in FUTO VC selection | EduCeleb
EduCeleb
16th April 2021
The recent appointment of the vice chancellor of Federal University of Technology (FUTO), Professor Nnenna Oti has continued to spark reactions from groups of Imolites and the academic circles all over the federation.
However, a group of Imo Elites had condemned the council’s selection, process which they said that the best hands VCs were short-changed while appionting a mediocre and academic misfit.
The group alleged this selection is unacceptable and threatens Court action and sanctions against the perpetrators.
While speaking, Ken Uwandu J hinted that the criteria of selection that helped the emergence of Professor Oti for the post of a substantive Vice Chancellor for the Federal University of Technology Owerri by Prof John Offem’s led Governing council has been faulted and condemned by Imo Concerned Elites.
The group of professionals and learned people from Imo state made a communique available to newsmen in Owerri and pointed out that the governing council, compromised their integrity and openly promoted mediocrity at the highest level by not doing a thorough due diligence search on the candidate the selected for the job.
According to them, the Governing Council Chairman, Prof John Offem took to wickedness like the devil by showing and exposing openly their level hatred for Imo indigenes that participated in the race.
The group queried the criteria used that gave Prof Otti who was alleged known as an academic misfit with no reasonable and verifiable research work, advantage against the very best brains from Imo State that are known globally for excellence in research works.
“This kind of nonsense is not acceptable to us as people.”
“We are ready to fight the authorities involved legally and no going back.”
“We are consulting and soon will be going to court to punish the perpetrators of this criminal act, so that it will be a deterrent to others in the future”
“We will leave no stone unturned in this matter, including using protests at Nigeria University Commission (NUC), National Assembly, Federal Ministry of Education Abuja etc., until justice is done just to make our points.”
“We are reliably informed that the Minister of State, Hon Emeka Nwajiuba and the Imo State governor in their efforts to frustrate Owerri zone, encouraged the brazen robbery of our sons, for a stooge for personal aggrandisement”
“Hon Emeka Nwajiuba and his cohorts, dared the zone and taken us for a ride on several occasions, he also remove and dropped one of our son who was shortlisted for the post of Vice Chancellor of University of Agriculture Umudike.
“He should forget the support of our zone in Imo state anytime in the future”.
The communique further read, “The zone is embittered by such wicked act, and will definitely invoke adequate sanctions to the perpetrators” the report revealed. It further states, that “Other collaborators involved directly or indirectly on the sabotage, no matter how highly placed must get the wrath of the zone”.
The document further reads, “This is evil stretched too far against the sensibility of the academia and our generation in Imo State.
“This type of practice negates the norms of a sane society like ours and cannot promote sound education”. “It is a criminal act that affects drastically the standard of education in our most cherished federal university of Technology”.
“How can we fold our hands and watch a few disgruntle elements take the academia for a ride” they queried
“We call Imo compatriots to rise up and fight against this wicked witch-hunting and deliberately short-changing of Imo best brains by political stooges and cohorts in the name of Governing Council and supposed representative of the state” the statement reads.