A Chieftain of the All Progressive Congress, Cletus Obun has alleged that the Nigeria’s first president, Nnamdi Azikiwe was taught political science in the United States by a lecturer from Calabar. He argued that Cross River state is not lacking in quality to produce a minister under the Tinubu’s administration.
He pointed out that Cross River State has produced quality leaders and professionals, including the youngest minister in Nigeria, and a significant number of professors, despite the challenges of obtaining advanced degrees in the country. He addressed the potential replacement of Betta Edu, the former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, asserting that if she were found guilty of any wrongdoing, Cross River has ample qualified candidates to take her place.
He said in an interview with Arise TV from 7:56, ‘When Zik went to the US, the person who taught him political science was from Calabar. So, when you talk about quality, integrity, and in terms of substance, you cannot say that we lack anybody of quality from Cross River state. Talking about the youngest Minister that was produced in Nigeria, we got that from Cross River state. There were a lot of Professors produced by Cross River state, even when a PhD was a problem to get in the entire Nigeria.
So, if it is quality, Cross River state has enough to replace Betta Edu if she was found guilty of what she was accused of, because we never got the report about what happened to her. But the President’s discretion and judgment cannot be faulted, because it is his constitutional right to appoint and hire and fire whoever he wants to serve with him. So, we cannot question him on that, but to say that there’s no replacement, or that there’s trust deficiency, will be wrong to say.”