June 13, (THEWILL) – A coalition of youth groups from the Niger Delta region has pushed for the nomination of a female engineer, academic professor and politician, Engineer Maureen Orubide Etebu, as Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in the much anticipated President Bola Ahmed Tinubu Federal Cabinet that is yet to be constituted.
The coalition held an international press conference in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, on Democracy Day, June 12, 2023, to drum up support for the nomination of Prof. Etebu
Leader of the coalition, which converged on the Ernest Okoli NUJ Press Center in Ekeki, Yenagoa, Comrade Amatare Mozimo, attested that a woman of the calibre of Prof. Etebu, who has been a two-time gubernatorial aspirant in the APC (2019 and 2023), should be considered for a ministerial appointment in Tinubu’s cabinet.
He added that Prof. Etebu has served in numerous capacities as the pioneer Vice-Chancellor of Federal Maritime University, Okerenkoko, and the South-South Coordinator of the City Boy Movement (CBM) that saw to the tremendous outing of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the South-South region in the just concluded presidential election.
The coalition averred that Prof. Etebu brings to the table a double-loaded resume that can add value to Tinubu’s Cabinet, as she is a core professional in her field with triple doctorate degrees in Mechanical, Industrial Engineering and Power and Energy, not to mention her four Masters degrees in diverse fields of engineering as well as an MBA in Management, which have prepared and made her fit enough for the ministerial position to represent Bayelsa State in Tinubu’s ministerial Cabinet, as the President is widely known as a stickler for professionalism, technocracy and one who believes in merit and core competencies of his appointees.
Comrade Mozimo assured the populace and stakeholders in the Nigerian project that Prof. Etebu, who holds the record as the first Female Professor of Mechanical Engineering in Nigeria, was also a one-time Commissioner in the late D.S.P. Alamieyeseigha Administration, where she championed the cause for the first Bayelsa State-owned Niger Delta University (NDU) as Commissioner for Special Duties with projects that are still standing tall in the varsity till date.
The coalition rooting for Prof. Etebu reiterated that she has been an active player in the Niger Delta struggles through her pioneering efforts in far-flung Maritime University at the brink of the Excravis and other interior creeks where she had set the template for a vibrant maritime training and certification for youths of the region.
“Etebu is young at heart and fit to man any ministry the President deems fit. She is an active circle and knowledgeable in all ramifications, especially in her core field of engineering where she attained the rank of a professor over a decade ago at the University of Port Harcourt.
“To date, go to Okerenkoko, the staff of the Maritime University are still singing her praises. Though some detractors tried blackmailing her to dent her hard-earned reputation, it didn’t work as they were finally caught and currently facing prosecution in the courts as we speak. She has been exonerated and vindicated from any blemish and posterity has justified her. Engr Prof. Etebu’s role in the election of President Tinubu is also not to be glared over,” he said.
Mozimo stated that as the South-South Coordinator of the City Boy Movement for President Bola Tinubu, Professor Etebu was able to galvanise massive support for the President, transversing the length and breadth of the oil-rich region, adding that she was there to campaign and sell the message of ‘renewed hope’ to the Niger Delta people, which culminated in the successful election of President Tinubu.
According to the coalition, “The presidential result is evident as it showed that Engr Prof Etebu’s ward in KOLGA, comprising Kaiama and Olobiri, had the highest votes of over 25.5 percent for Tinubu and the APC.”
The coalition, therefore, called on the leader of the party in Bayelsa State, Chief Timipre Sylva, as well as other APC chieftains at the State and National level, to look in the direction of Prof. Maureen Orubide Etebu, to take the Bayelsa Ministerial slot as she worked for the party in various capacities including being the Chairperson of the Entertainment Committee saddled with the responsibility of welfare during the visit of President Tinubu to the State during the campaigns.
