TDDr. Inyali Peter’s recent publication titled “Is C’River Really Surrendering Fed Poly Ugep Rectorship to Kogi?” reflects a deeply troubling mindset, one that mistakes federal institutions for ethnic property and merit-based appointments for territorial surrender.
While his passion for the state is commendable, the conclusions drawn in his write-up unfortunately mischaracterize both the process and the broader principles that govern federal institutions in Nigeria.
Let me begin by dismantling the flawed premise upon which his argument rests: Federal Polytechnic Ugep is a federal institution, not an appendage or provincial parastatal of Cross River State.
It is a creation of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, constituted and regulated under extant federal statutes, including the Polytechnic Act 2019 (as amended). Its leadership is neither the outcome of provincial bargaining nor ethnic brokerage.
Rather, it emerges from a rigorously competitive process conducted by the duly constituted Governing Council and subsequently ratified by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in strict conformity with the law.
The appointment of Dr. Makoji Stephen was executed in scrupulous adherence to due process. Interview scores were meticulously documented.
The Governing Council discharged its statutory mandate by forwarding its recommendation. The President, exercising constitutional prerogative, granted approval.
To insinuate that the emergence of a Kogi indigene amounts to Cross River “surrendering” something is not merely inaccurate; it is intellectually untenable.
Such framing reflects a misapprehension of the very architecture of federalism. Federal institutions are conceived as instruments of national integration, not bastions of subnational exclusivity.
If every state were to insist that only its indigenes may preside over federal establishments within its territorial bounds, we would corrode the foundations of national cohesion and imperil the ethos of the Nigerian federation.
It is worth asking, Dr. Inyali: how many Cross River indigenes currently serve as Heads, Directors, or Principal Officers in federal institutions located outside Cross River State?
Should those states demand their removal on the basis of indigeneity? That would set a dangerous and divisive precedent!
The strength of Nigeria lies in reciprocity and openness, not territorial ownership of federal establishments.
Dr. Inyali also asks: “Which state in Nigeria today has a non-indigene serving as Rector of a federal polytechnic located in its territory?”
The answer is straightforward: several states. Federal institutions across Nigeria are headed by Nigerians from diverse states because they are intentionally structured to promote national integration, not parochial consolidation.
However, that should not have been the question in the first place. The more pertinent questions are these:
- Was the process transparent?
- Was it competitive?
- Is the appointee qualified?
- Does he or she possess the requisite administrative and academic competence to lead the institution effectively?
If the answer to these questions is yes, then what the institution deserves is support, not agitation.
The students’ protest he referenced was precipitated by calculated disinformation, the spurious narrative that a Cross River indigene emerged first in the selection process.
Documentary evidence incontrovertibly establishes otherwise. If merit is to retain any normative value within our educational architecture, it must be upheld not only when it favours us, but also when it does not.
Even more disconcerting is the insinuation that only an indigene can safeguard opportunities for locals.
Such reasoning reduces leadership to ethnic patronage and diminishes the institutional integrity to parochial calculus.
Sustainable academic excellence is anchored in competence, transparency and visionary governance, not in the accident of geographical origin.
Simply put, competence, transparency and institutional growth, not ethnicity, are what sustain academic institutions.
The campus land may have been donated by Cross River State, but the institution itself is federally owned and funded by Nigerian taxpayers from all 36 states.
By that logic, should every federal institution sit under ethnic control based on land donation? That would dismantle the very idea of Nigeria as a country.
Dr. Inyali frames this appointment as a “dangerous precedent.” On the contrary, the dangerous precedent would have been discarding a transparent, competitive process in favour of ethnic pressure.
Nigeria’s higher education system already battles credibility challenges. What it does not need is intellectual justification for ethnic gatekeeping.
The appointment of Dr. Makoji Stephen is not a loss for Cross River. It is a gain for Federal Polytechnic Ugep. His credentials, academic experience and international exposure are public record.
Leadership should not be viewed through the narrow lens of state of origin but through the broader lens of institutional advancement.
There is no gainsaying the fact that Cross River has produced brilliant academics. But brilliance must compete and win on merit.
That is how institutions grow. That is how standards are preserved. History will not remember whether the rector was from Kogi or Cross River. It will remember whether the institution progressed under his leadership.
Dr. Inyali, this moment calls not for agitation, but for maturity. Your vigilance reflects love for Cross River State.
However, love for our state must not translate into suspicion of fellow Nigerians or resistance to lawful processes.
Rather than framing this appointment as ethnic displacement, it would serve Cross River State better to demonstrate political sophistication and intellectual generosity.
Federal Polytechnic Ugep can only rise when stakeholders rally behind its leadership, not undermine it from inception.
Dr. Makoji Stephen is both competent and duly appointed in accordance with the law.
As he assumes leadership of the institution, what is required now is cooperation, constructive engagement, vigilant yet fair oversight, the goodwill of the host community, and a stable environment that fosters the academic and administrative advancement of Federal Polytechnic, Ugep.
Leadership is judged by performance. The new Rector should therefore be assessed on the strength of his vision, his fairness, his administrative prudence, his commitment to staff development and student welfare, and his capacity to drive infrastructural growth, not on the basis of his state of origin.
I therefore urge you and all well-meaning indigenes of Cross River State to jettison animosity, resist divisive rhetoric, and instead extend a hand of cooperation to the new Rector. The success of the new Rector will ultimately benefit the students, staff and host community alike.
Let us choose collaboration over confrontation. Let us choose institutional excellence over ethnic sentiment. Let us choose progress.
By and large, Federal Polytechnic Ugep must be a symbol of academic excellence, not a battleground for ethnic sentiment. The future of the institution depends not on where the rector comes from, but on what all of us are willing to build together.
