{"id":22121,"date":"2025-10-24T18:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.funminews.com\/?p=22121"},"modified":"2025-10-24T17:18:29","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T16:18:29","slug":"polytechnic-in-crisis-ethnic-allegiances-threaten-stability-of-akwa-iboms-premier-institution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/24\/polytechnic-in-crisis-ethnic-allegiances-threaten-stability-of-akwa-iboms-premier-institution\/","title":{"rendered":"Polytechnic in Crisis: Ethnic Allegiances Threaten Stability of Akwa Ibom\u2019s Premier Institution."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"\">IKOT OSURUA, Nigeria (FN) \u2014 Communities hosting the Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic in Ikot Osurua, Ikot Ekpene Local Government Area, have called on Governor Umo Eno to ensure fairness and ethnic balance in the appointment of the institution\u2019s next rector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">The demand follows ongoing protests over the impending expiration of the tenure of the current rector, Dr. Moses Umobong, whose term ends in December 2025. Community leaders are urging the state government to appoint a qualified candidate from the Annang ethnic group, citing a tradition of alternating leadership between the Annang and Ibibio groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">\u201cFor the first time, both the current rector and the deputy rector are from the Ibibio extraction,\u201d said youth leader Ekikere Iko at a press conference Thursday. \u201cThis is a deviation from the long-standing practice of inclusiveness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"700\" height=\"400\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/image-258.png?fit=700%2C400\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-22122\" style=\"width:752px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/image-258.png?w=700&amp;ssl=1 700w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/image-258.png?resize=300%2C171&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/image-258.png?resize=696%2C398&amp;ssl=1 696w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Iko also criticized the recent removal of the deputy rector of Annang origin, calling it a violation of the institution\u2019s establishment law and the National Board for Technical Education\u2019s guidelines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) Akwa Ibom chapter expressed concern over the growing tension. \u201cWe urge the government to uphold equity and transparency in the appointment process,\u201d said ASUP Chairman Dr. Iniobong Udoh. \u201cThe polytechnic must reflect the diversity of its host communities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">The Students\u2019 Union Government (SUG) echoed the call for fairness. \u201cWe want a rector who understands our challenges and represents our community,\u201d said SUG President Emem Bassey. \u201cThe student body stands with the host communities in demanding justice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Several students voiced frustration over recent administrative decisions, including salary cuts for part-time staff and the appointment of a non-indigene as Community Liaison Officer. \u201cWe feel neglected,\u201d said final-year student Idara Udo. \u201cLeadership should reflect the people it serves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Governor Umo Eno\u2019s spokesperson said the administration is committed to fairness and will consider all voices in the appointment process. \u201cThe governor remains focused on unity and development under the ARISE Agenda,\u201d the statement read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">On September 3, over 1,000 residents barricaded the polytechnic\u2019s main gate to protest the appointment of a non-indigene as liaison officer and demanded the removal of Rector Umobong. Protesters accused him of reducing part-time staff salaries from N50,000 to N30,000, a move they said violated civil service rules amid national calls for a new minimum wage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>IKOT OSURUA, Nigeria (FN) \u2014 Communities hosting the Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic in Ikot Osurua, Ikot Ekpene Local Government Area, have called on Governor Umo Eno to ensure fairness and ethnic balance in the appointment of the institution\u2019s next rector. The demand follows ongoing protests over the impending expiration of the tenure of the current [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22123,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-naija-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Rector-of-the-Akwa-Ibom-State-Polytechnic-Ikot-Osurua-Dr-Moses-Umobong1.webp?fit=474%2C711&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22121"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22121\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22124,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22121\/revisions\/22124"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}