Provost of Federal College of Education clarifies issues on petition against lecturer

Provost of the Federal College of Education (Technical), Asaba, Delta State, Dr Mrs Josephine Anene-Okeakwa, has clarified issues bordering on the petition against the entry qualification of a chief lecturer of the college, one Mr Okonta.

Dr Mrs Anene-Okeakwa was accused of shielding Mr Okonta, whom a fraction of the staff of the college accused in a petition of having a poor entry qualification for which a panel was set up.

Speaking with a delegation from the Delta State Council of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), led by its chairman, Comrade Mike Ikeogwu, on a fact-finding mission, the provost expressed joy at the professional gesture of the gentlemen whom, she said, chose to crosscheck facts before publication.

She, however, expressed displeasure that some persons, for reasons best known to them, could drag her name in the media over frivolous allegations.

“I am a bonafide daughter of Asaba, so I cannot disgrace my community where this College is situated.

“Again, I was appointed by the Federal Government because I scored the highest number of marks during the screening and I was found capable for this job as Provost.”

“To the best of my ability, I have done this job honestly and sincerely. I am open to everybody in the College not just as a boss or colleague but as a mother.

“The issue is about a petition against a Chief Lecturer in the school, Mr Okonta bordering on entry cadre.

“I was not the one who employed him. I was made to understand that he was employed as an Analyst, but as at then, there were no computers in the school, so he was seconded to be lecturing in the school of business.

“The person we are talking about has been studying further since he got engaged in the College to the effect that he has obtained his Master’s Degree and then PhD.

“All his credentials are in his file, nothing has changed except that the petitioner was insisting that he had Third Class in his degree at the point of entry.

“But they never mentioned that he has also gone to upgrade himself. He had always been in the business of lecturing and when the College left the era of the typewriter and procured computers, he was made the Head of ICT of the institution.

“Through him as a Departmental Head, the College got various accreditations. Such a person is not a neophyte or incompetent in the system.

“However, when the petition was written challenging his entry cadre into the College, I called him as administratively demanded of my office and gave him query to that effect, which he responded to.

“I then set up a panel where Mr Samuel Ilabor who is the Chairman ACTU is a member. The petition was also forwarded to ACTU Chairman.”

“After coming up with their report, that is from the Anti Corruption and Transparency Unit (ACTU), the report was supposed to go through the process, but that was not done as the Committee sent a petition directly to ICPC in Abuja.

“ACTU has no power to hire and fire; they are a Management Committee which deals with ICPC.

“It was after their report had gone to Abuja, not even Benin which is our zone, that they had a rethink and submitted a copy to me, and I minuted it to the management from where it should go to the Council for decision making.

“They couldn’t wait for this process, they sent their petition to the media and started dragging my name and picture in their untrue story.

“I didn’t shield Mr Okonta, even though we know this whole thing is happening because of the Cooperative Election which didn’t go down well with the other faction.

“Mr Okonta was the Electoral Committee Chairman and for obvious reasons didn’t ‘play ball’ as expected. And the people voted their choice because of the subsisting fraud case against the then incumbent group.

“They just want to smear my name in this matter. I feel disappointed that as a result of election matters, they are taking laws into their hands to destroy the name of the organisation where they earn their livelihood, to the effect that they were using fictitious names, one Dr Isitua Ifeanyi Obi to write petitions with phone numbers of a Hausa man and another ignorant staff who is in the Netherlands on sabbaticals,” Dr Anene-Okeakwa narrated.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the NUJ, Delta State Council, Comrade Ikeogwu, expressed delight at the steady pace of development ongoing at the institution.

Ikeogwu commended the Provost, Dr Anene-Okeakwa for the rapid development of the college since she assumed office, urging practising journalists to desist from being used as agents of distractions by fifth columnists.

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