Protesters Kick Against Uwakwe's Appointment As NECO Boss

 

Protesters under the aegis of Citizens Advocacy for Equity and Educational Development yesterday in Abuja kicked against the appointment of Prof. Charles Uwakwe as the new Executive Secretary of the National Examination Council  (NECO).

The protest which was held at the Federal Ministry of Education, saw the protesters decrying what they described as “ethnic emasculation and colonization of the National Examinations Council by the Southern section of the country over successive years as the respective Registrars from the South have made it a duty to massively recruit individuals of similar ethnic extraction without recourse to sacrosanct principle of Federal Character.”

Addressing the protesters, Comrade Danesi Momoh said the lopsided appointment of NECO Registrar in favor of the Southern region has also made favoritism and nepotism to become the order of the day in terms of promotions and transfers in this sensitive education agency.

He said, “since the establishment of NECO, four out of the five Registrars appointed so far have been from the Southern region. While we do not begrudge the appointment of any individual, it has been brought to our consistent notice that the streak of appointments since the reign of Prof. Promise Okpala was nothing but a process for ethnic perpetuation and ingratiation which continued with the subsequent appointment of Prof. Tommy Joshua.

“The acts of nepotism perpetrated by this duo resulted in sustained massive outcry against their actions. Especially when viewed against the backdrop of the fact that the National Headquarters of NECO is instructively sited in the Northern region of the country.

It therefore urged the Minister to “save NECO from the fever and fear of another crisis by swapping Prof. Charles Uwakwe with another appointee among those from the North.”