By Okoi Obono-obla
A Monumental Achievement
The Federal Polytechnic, Ugep, Cross River State, has just been granted official approval for an additional twenty-one (21) academic programmes by the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), the regulatory body responsible for accrediting polytechnic courses across the nation.
According to the internal memorandum dated October 21, 2026, signed by the Registrar and Secretary to Council, Barr. O. Okoi Obeten, five National Diploma programmes received full accreditation, twelve others were granted resource visitation approval, and four Higher National Diploma programmes were approved.
It is truly extraordinary what the new management team has accomplished in barely seven months of assuming office. Credit must be given where it is due.
The comprehensive list of the newly approved programmes is as follows:
A. NATIONAL DIPLOMA (ND) – Full Accreditation (5)
Accountancy
Public Administration
Statistics
Computer Engineering
Hospitality Management
B. NATIONAL DIPLOMA (ND) – Resource Visitation (12)
Artificial Intelligence
Building Technology
Survey and Geoinformatics
Quantity Survey
Urban and Regional Planning
Office Technology and Management
Food Science and Technology
Science Laboratory Technology
Agricultural Technology
Mass Communication
Crime Management
Mechanical Engineering
C. HIGHER NATIONAL DIPLOMA (HND) – (4)
Business Administration and Management
Public Administration
Cyber Security
Statistics
From a Courtesy Visit to a Federal Institution
This achievement cannot be appreciated without recalling how Federal Polytechnic Ugep came to be. The institution was gifted to the Ugep community by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari in 2021, in appreciation of the role I played in the formation of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and his political ambition that culminated in a landslide victory in 2015.
For the records: I facilitated the historic courtesy visit of His Royal Majesty, the Obol Lopon of Ugep and Paramount Ruler of Yakurr Local Government Area, Obol Ofem Ubana Eteng, to former President Muhammadu Buhari on October 9, 2018.
At the time, I served as Senior Special Assistant to President Buhari on Prosecution and Chairman of the Special Presidential Investigation Panel for the Recovery of Public Property. My journey to organizing that visit began after the alleged murder of my nephew, Jude Iro, in June 2017. Seeking justice, I petitioned the then Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, to direct the Inspector General of Police to investigate.
Following a strain in my relationship with Obol Lopon over that approach, the Clan Head of Bikobiko, Obol Columbus Ikpi Igbor, mediated a reconciliation in Obol Lopon’s palace. I then pledged to facilitate an invitation for Obol Lopon to meet President Buhari.
I instructed my then Special Assistant, Ben Inah, to draft a formal request to the Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari. On or about October 5, 2018, Ambassador Lawal Kazaure, Director of Protocol to the President, confirmed that the visit was approved for October 9. I immediately informed Obol Lopon and advised him to select a delegation comprising his chiefs and Ugep indigenes in Abuja, including Sab Eko, Barr. Eric Ifere, Barr. Grace Eni Nsot, and Jedy Agba.
On the eve of the visit, I met the delegation at their guest house in Life Camp — accommodation graciously sponsored by Jedy Agba — and advised Obol Lopon to advocate for a Federal University of Technology in Ugep and to seek the President’s intervention in the Ebom-Ebijakara communal conflict.
On that momentous day, October 9, 2018, President Buhari warmly received the delegation. Obol Lopon thanked the President for appointing Ugep sons like Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas as Chief of Naval Staff, Dr. Usani Uguru Usani as Minister, and myself as Senior Special Assistant, and formally requested a federal tertiary institution for Ugep. President Buhari responded: “Under my watch, no part of Nigeria will be ignored.”
Photographs from that day remain undeniable proof of that historic moment. That request laid the foundation for what is today Federal Polytechnic, Ugep, established in 2021 with a N2 billion take-off grant.
Let them continue to distort facts out of bias, prejudice, or mischief. Human memory may be selective, but the truth remains intact for those who know it.
Leadership That Delivers: The Makoji Effect
I am particularly glad that the Rector, Dr Makoji Robert Stephen and his team have proven their mettle and provided great, competent and astute leadership, which has manifested in this approval.
Dr. Makoji was appointed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, with effect from March 17, 2026, for a single five-year tenure in line with the Polytechnic Act 2019 (as amended). Credit goes to President Tinubu for appointing such a competent academic and technocrat without minding the hue and cry from certain quarters over appointing someone who is not an indigene of Cross River State.
Groups had kicked against the appointment, insisting on federal character, but the Presidency stood firm on merit-driven leadership. That decision has now been vindicated.
Appointing quality people without recourse to primordial sentiments and emotional outbursts from selfish and myopic quarters is the right way to go if we are to reset the country and put it on a good footing in the comity of nations.
Conclusion
From a courtesy visit to the Villa in 2018, to a federal polytechnic in 2021, and now to 21 new programmes in 2026, the trajectory of Federal Polytechnic Ugep is a story of promise, perseverance, and performance.
I congratulate the Rector, Dr. Dr Makoji Robert Stephen ,his management team, staff, and students on this remarkable leap. The future is indeed bright for Ugep as a citadel of learning and leadership training in Nigeria.
