Minister turns down request to name lecture theatre after him

The Minister of State for Education, Mr Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba has turned down a request by members of the Federal Government College, Sokoto, to name a lecture theatre after him.

This is contained in a statement by Mr Ben Goong, Director of Press in the ministry and issued to newsmen on Tuesday in Abuja.
According to the statement, the minister who was in Sokoto to commission a state-of -the art lecture theater in the college, stunned cheering crowd of staff, students and others after he kicked against the idea.

The building had the inscription: “Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba lecture theatre”.

The statement quoted the minister explaining that it was against his principles to accept such honour while in office.

Nwajiuba then ordered the inscription to be removed, as all efforts by the school management to persuade him to accept the offer fell on deaf ears.

“As a matter of principle, I cannot accept any such honour while still in public office. If you decide to do that after I might have left office, then I will be available,” the minister said.

Meanwhile, the Principal of the college, Alhaji Ibrahim Uba explained that the offer was not an award but a historic recognition of what the Nwajiuba had done to the school.