Education is power, power over barbarism, power of enlightenment, and the light of the future. Tertiary institutions are the egg, they hatch the graduates into a state of completeness and preparedness to explore. Therefore, every leader must strive to give the people a taste and feel of same.
Few weeks ago, there was a conundrum on the origin of the Polytechnic, leading to a rub on the ego of many leaders in the state. Of course, it is natural that every human being ought to be given resounding credit for any feat attained. However, it should not snowball into a public war, especially between the supporters.
The establishment of the Federal Polytechnic, Ugep, was initially sponsored, vide a Bill by Chief Alex Egbona, the Bill passed 1st and 2nd reading, and was at the final stage when the Buhari led – administration decided to build tertiary institutions across some states. This made political leaders in the state to scramble for the location of the Polytechnic, since it became a Cross River State thing, no special consideration of location.
However, as the struggle for location continued, the entire state almost lost out, when Chief Okoi Obono Obla, Presidential Aide to former President Buhari, called Chief Alex Egbona, and informed him about the Polytechnic almost being taken out of the Abi/Yakurr Federal Constituency corridor. As a political sportsman, Chief Alex Egbona reconsidered his initial position of locating same in Abi Local Government Area. All this was after Chief Okoi Obono Obla, already led the Obol Lopon, Ugep, on a courtesy visit to former President Buhari, at the Aso Villa, Abuja.
To cut the long story short, in his piece titled: “Federal Polytechnic, Ugep: The Facts, The Farce”, Rt. Hon. Chief Alex Egbona revealed; that although he sponsored the Bill for the establishment of the Federal Polytechnic, Ugep, before it final stage, the Federal Government decided to establish tertiary institutions across states; that this led to the scramble for location of the Polytechnic by political leaders from other Constituencies in the state; that the entire state almost lost out of the whole process due to the scramble for location; that as a sportsman, he finally abandoned his interest and opted for the location of the Polytechnic to be Ugep, because of the ready-made site, already situate therewith; that the Obol Lopon of Ugep, also played a very important role vide his visit to the former President; that the location of the Polytechnic in Ugep, was achieved majorly because of the friendship that existed between Hon. Adamu Adamu, the then Minister of Education, and Obol Okoi Obono Obla; that the location of the Polytechnic was not a one – man – show, but rather a collective effort, and none of the leaders should take all credits for same.
To this end, Rt. Hon. Chief (Dr) Alex Egbona, made this revelation even after resisting the temptation on many occasions to do same. It is a display of genuine sportmanship, brotherhood, and a win – win situation for all. We believe “…The Fact, The Farce”, laid the misunderstanding to rest, and engineered a new sense of responsibility amongst our leaders, and the need to continue to prioritize the interest of the people of Cross River State. All glory belongs to God.
