From Okey Sampson, Umuahia
Abia State Government has said it viewed the withdrawal of accreditation of Abia State Polytechnic, Aba, by the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) as very embarrassing.
This is even as the founder and proprietor of Gregory University Uturu, Gregory Ibe, decried the NBTE action.
NBTE withdrew the accreditation on Tuesday for alleged non-payment of the polytechnic’s workers’ salaries for over 30 months.
Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Chris Ezem, in a statement, said the action has not only appeared to have jeopardised the fate of students of the institution, but was also capable of destabilising the current peace and harmony existing in the state.
He said it must be placed on record that academic activities were not disrupted in the institution, as teachers and staff of Abia polytechnic were not on strike before the NBTE’s harmer.
Government appealed to students of Abia polytechnic and other well meaning Abians to remain calm.
In the mean time, as part of the measure to reposition the institution, government has announced the immediate dissolution and suspension of the council and management respectively with immediate effect.
SSG said the decision was in line with government’s resolve to reposition the institution.
Ezem said with the foregoing, government has approved the constitution of a task force to restore the accreditation of the school within 30 days.
Membership of the task force are Ikechi Mgboji, Chairman; John Nwadioha, Jude Udeachara, Kelechi Anyanwu, Love Ezema and Stanley Nwankpa, Students’ Union Government president of the school as members.
Meanwhile, Ibe, reacting to the development, sympathised with the students and staff of the institution whose academic programme has subsequently been truncated by the NBTE pronouncement.
Ibe, who is also the Abia State flag bearer of the All Progressives Grand Alliance for the 2023 general election, said: “This is one withdrawal of accreditation too many. It is definitely not a good time to be an Abian academic.
“I am particularly pained by this sad development because of the preponderance of interventions I initiated through TETFUND collaborations and distribution of palliatives to staff members as a way of forestalling this tragic outcome.
“Tell me what will be the fate of the students whose academic progression has been forcefully truncated and the dilemma of staff members whose woes arising from many months of unpaid salaries has been further compounded?”
He said it was for some of these reasons he would declare state of emergency on the education sector if elected governor in 2023.