By Dianabasi Effiong
Dr Moses Umobong, the outgoing Rector of Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic (AkwaPoly), Ikot Osurua, presented his scorecard to Journalists on Wednesday in his office, saying that all courses and programmes in the state-owned institution were accredited within his tenure.
He also said that he informed the State Governor about his exit date as Rector, adding that there were no doubts that due process would be followed by appropriate authorities in the appointment of a new Rector for the school.
He said that though there were unfounded speculations that he would influence the appointment of a new Rector for the school, he would not be distracted.
“We were able to secure 100 per cent accreditation of all the courses and programmes of the polytechnic since assumption of office; thereby placing Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic from the 99th ranking position to second position as the best polytechnic in Nigeria.”
He said, “At the time I took over, the Polytechnic was in the national ranking in the 99th position; 99th position out of a total number of 110 Polytechnics, signifying that there was something professionally wrong.
“So with the cooperation of all the staff and all of us, we were able to put all our efforts together, work hard together. After two years, the ranking came again.
“In the third year of my tenure, we achieved the 18th position. And in 2023, we were ranked the second-best Polytechnic in Nigeria. The Polytechnic, Illaro came first, we came second.”
He said that the Akwa Ibom Government had been very supportive of the institution.
“By the grace of God, the State government has been very supportive, funding us and so on.
“The ranking has to do with the number of valuable factors, part of which would be the number of programmes you run and the accreditations you have.
“I don’t want to take you too far, but I want to tell you that as we speak today, all the programmes in the Polytechnic have accreditation. We are not running any illegal programme.
“I came to meet some of them who have no accreditation, but I secured accreditation for all of them.
“Secondly, what is very important to note is that the Department of Mechanical Engineering only existed on paper. We have the Department of Mechanical Engineering Technology, Mechatronics Engineering, Welding and Fabrication, which had no accreditation; we have secured accreditation for all,” Umobong said.
He also said that he tried to sanitise the system by ensuring that staff members attained higher academic qualifications while those in professional courses registered with their professional bodies during his tenure.
“By the time I took over as Rector, we had some who were there for more than 25 years or with a first Degree. They did not bother to pursue any other higher qualification.
“They were so satisfied with the first degree!
“There was this indiscriminate, unmerited promotion, so we wrote to His Excellency, the Governor and Proprietor, asking him to permit us to invite the National Board for Technical Education, the Regulator, to do an academic staff audit and a non-academic staff audit. Let’s see where we got it wrong, why we’re not growing?
“The Governor granted the approval, and we invited the NBTE, and we discovered so many anomalies. Doing that, you necessarily must step on toes.
“The good thing is that, today, we have more than 60 holders of Ph.D. Master’s Degree holders are numerous, everybody is going back to school, that’s it! It looks like an institution now. You can’t have a first degree and become a professor or you become a Chief Lecturer with a first degree?
“Some people never published anything; how do you want to grow in academics? You either publish or you do what? You perish.
“As long as I’m here, you show your publications, I have mine. I will show you mine, my Curriculum Vitae (CV) is here. You see my publications over the years, till this year,” he said.
The Rector, who said his exit was in November 2025, thanked Gov. Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom and his predecessor for their support and efforts to reposition the Polytechnic and put it in an enviable height.
Umobong also expressed the hope that his legacy in the institution would be sustained.
He also said that dismissed allegations over plans to impose his kinsman as his successor, saying that such were baseless since there were guidelines for such appointments.
Umobong said, “I lack the power to influence such an appointment. Only the governor of the State has the sole and constitutional power to appoint the Rector of the Polytechnic.
A statement gaining traction online and endorsed by a ‘Concerned Annang Citizen’ had claimed that the Rector, in collaboration with the leaders of the three unions in the Polytechnic: Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, (ASUP), the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Polytechnics (SSANIP), and the Ibibio Union, is sponsoring a preferred successor from his ethnic group, the Ibibio, in order marginalise those from the Annang ethnic extraction.
The ‘Concerned Annang Citizen’ said: “Such a move, if allowed, would not only cause disharmony among the ethnic groups in the institution but would lead to institutional crisis by ultimately burying the only state-owned institution of higher learning located in ‘Annang land’.”
Umobong said that he had wondered how a group of “faceless” people could come up with such allegations when it was obvious that for a State Polytechnic, all appointments of Principal Officers were made by a sitting Governor.
Umobong added that it was not healthy for anybody to play politics of ethnic sentiment in institutions of higher learning rather than championing excellence and academic growth.
“My job is just to write officially to the governor, telling him when I’ll be exiting, which I have already done, and obtain permission to advertise.
“When that approval is granted, the advertisement will be placed and the council will conduct interviews. The National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) is the regulator, they have set up some guidelines for the appointment of a Rector, which must be strictly followed. So how do I come in here?
“During my time, we were eight persons that applied or contested. We sat for the interview, fortunately for me, I was appointed the Rector. So, are you saying that somebody should be a sole candidate?
“Well, if no other person is interested, fine; but if there are other interest groups, they have the right to apply.
“All these allies are supposed to go to the governor and say, ‘Governor, I warn you, you must appoint this person from this particular ethnic group, to show your supremacy, to show your powers’.”
