Rights group backs Uwakwe's appointment

A human rights group, the Centre for Social Justice, Equity and Transparency (CESJET) has condemned recent protest against the appointment of Professor Charles Uwakwe as the executive secretary of the National Examination Council (NECO).

CESJET executive secretary, Comrade Ikpa Isaac, described the demand by protesters that appointment to be reversed for ethnic considerations as most irresponsible.

"It is even more depressing when the Citizens Advocacy for Equity and Educational Development further explained that the executive secretary should have come from the north because the council’s headquarters is located in the north", he said.

"If the head of every government agency has to be appointed on the basis of geo-location, then the north would be left massively disadvantaged as many of the government establishments headed by northerners are not located in their geographical areas.

"The demand of the protesters is dangerous coming at a time when there is outcry in some quarters that the appointments under the current government tilted in favour of the north; acceding to the protesters’ demand would therefore only worsen the sense of discrimination that is already growing in some geo-political zones and cannot be in the interest of Nigeria," Isaac added.

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Isaac commended the minister of education, Adamu Adamu for the appointment which he describes as well deserved.

He urged the newly appointed NECO boss to bring his skills to bear in the running of the affairs of the agency, which must be brought to a level where the certificates issued would be acceptable all over the world.