The management of Federal Polytechnic, Oko in Anambra State, has expressed its gratitude to President Muhammadu Buhari for immortalising the late icon and former Vice President, Dr. Alex Ekwueme.
This is contrary to insinuations that the management of the school was not happy that the institution was not renamed after its founder and Second Republic vice president.
The Federal Government had last Friday renamed the Federal University, Ndufu Alike Ikwo, Ebonyi State after Ekwueme during the funeral service for the late elder statesman.
The Rector, Federal Polytechnic Oko, Prof. Godwin Onu, said in Oko that his institution shares the honour done to Ekwueme because of what the deceased represented to the polytechnic.
“Ekwueme was the founding father of our polytechnic and whatever good associated with him is by extension an honour to our institution,’’ he said.
He, however, said that the students, staff, and management of the Polytechnic Oko had rather expected the Federal Government to elevate the Federal Polytechnic Oko to a Federal University.
“Upgrading Polytechnic Oko to a Federal university would have been a better way to immortalise Ekwueme because of the enormity of good work he did in Oko and the entire Anambra’’, he said.
It will be called that Ekwueme founded Polytechnic Oko in 1976.
As the pioneer President General of Oko Peoples Union, he led the Oko community to construct the school which Anambra State government transformed to College of Arts and Science before it became Polytechnic.
Onu said that the school was glad that the call for the immortalization of Ekwueme was heeded by President Buhari during the burial.
“Ekwueme left good legacies as a politician and that explains why many sons and daughters of Oko and who-is-who in Nigeria came to Oko to honour him,’’ he said.