ABIA POLY: “ONE withdrawal of accreditation, too many” – Prof Ibe laments

Chinwe Ugele Umuahia

The founder and chancellor of Gregory University Uturu, Prof Gregory Ibe has decried the recent withdrawal of the accreditation status of Abia State Polytechnic Aba by the National Board for Technical Education(NBTE).

In his reaction to the development, Prof Ibe, the Abia state standard bearer of the All Progressives Grand Alliance for the 2023 gubernatorial elections, sympathized with the students and staff of the institution whose academic programme has subsequently been truncated following the NBTE pronouncement.

According to Prof Ibe, “This is one withdrawal of accreditations, 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 unfortunate students whose academic progression has been forcefully truncated and the dilemma of staff members whose woes arising from many months of unpaid salaries have been further compounded?”

He stated that his evaluation of the current status of educational institutions in the state is the reason why he intends to declare a state of emergency on the education sector if elected governor in 2023.

He however announced offered an immediate help by expressing willingness to absorb OND certified students of Abia Polytechnics in Gregory university Uturu to enable them convert to degree scholars. In his words, “Leveraging the unimpressive outcome of survey conducted by industry experts on educational institutions in Abia state, which deployed Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) indices and international best practices in education to assess the true health status of our primary, secondary and tertiary schools, I once again reaffirm my resolve to declare state of emergency that will lead to comprehensive reform of the sector once I am elected governor in 2023. But to create an immediate response to the Abia Polytechnic debacle, I have requested the management of our institution to work out modalities for possible absorption of desiring OND certified students of Abia Poly into Gregory University Uturu for conversion to degree scholars.”

It will be recalled that Prof Ibe had in the past initiated distribution of large consignment of food stuff to staff of Abia State Polytechnic Aba and Abia State University Uturu while facilitating critical interventions by federal government agencies for both institutions.