Feelers are rife that President Tinubu is leaving no stone unturned in his resolve to appoint female technocrats and core professionals to man sensitive Ministries in his proposed Federal Executive Council (FEC).
Top on the list is a frontline APC stalwart – Engineer Ongoebi Maureen Orubide Etebu – a Bayelsa-born female Professor of Engineering with three Doctorate Degrees (PhDs) in core Engineering fields of: Mechanical, Industrial, Power and Energy from top Ivy-League Universities across the globe.
Engr. Prof. Etebu, a former Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, at the University of Port Harcourt and Pioneer Vice-Chancellor of Nigeria’s Premiere Federal Maritime University, Okerenkoko, also holds four Masters Degrees – three in her core field of engineering and a fourth degree – an MBA in Management to cap her academic laurels.
This much was emphasized at a press conference held in Yenagoa the Bayelsa State capital by an advocacy group under the aegis of Coalition for Good Governance and Accountability (COGGA) to root for the female professor as Honourable Minister in the much anticipated Federal Cabinet of President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
National Coordinator of COGGA, Comrade Amatare Mozimo, was full of admiration for the rich resume of the female engineer of impeccable character, as he stressed that Prof. Etebu’s CV is second to none as President Tinubu shall find her worthy and capable to work with.
No just because of her integrity as one with the fear of God and a submissive team player that can relied upon, but also considering her years of experience in public service as a former Commissioner, a two-time gubernatorial aspirant of the APC in 2019 and 2023; and also a former Vice-Chancellor of Nigeria’s Premiere Federal Maritime University.
The COGGA leasership stressed the role Engr. Prof. Etebu played during the APC presidential campaigns, where she served as South-South Coordinator of two major APC Presidential Campaign Support Groups for President Tinubu – The City Boy Movement (CBM) and the APC Presidential Campaign Council which Hon. James Faleke served as Secretary and personally signed the appointment letter of Engr. Prof. Etebu, as a capable woman, young-at-heart, agile and efficient enough to mobilise voters across the six states of the South-South Geo-Political Zone for the APC Presidential Candidate.
“We call on President Tinubu, to keep his commitment of appointing women of integrity with verifiable track record, who worked for the party towards actualising victory as president, especially in states like Bayelsa under the enclave of the PDP. APC stalwarts like Prof Etebu worked in synergy with leaders of the party, especially, Chief Timipre Sylva, in getting the desired results for President Tinubu in far-flung Bayelsa State.
“Just as we thank President Tinubu for standing by Senator Godswill Akpabio, as Senate President, due to his record of delivering the APC in Akwa Ibom state, likewise we call on the President to appoint a woman like Prof Etebu, who not only supported the APC with her personal resources to deliver the party in the last presidential election but also produced tangible results as her Kaiama-Olobiri Ward in KOLGA got the highest returns for the APC in her LGA, in the presidential poll.
“Prof Etebu has what it takes to rally round youths in the Creeks of the Niger Delta as she did same during the political campaigns when she set a template for youth and women mobilisation – criss-crossing rivers down to Escravos, Warri, Foropa, Koluama, and Sangana coast lines, to take the message of ‘Renewed Hope’ to the interior creeks of her home stead in Bayelsa State.”