Rumuolumeni Not Marginalized, Got Whopping 3% Out Of 1,500 Employment Slots – IAUE

The management of Ignatius Ajuru University of Education (IAUE), Port Harcourt, Rivers State says its host, Rumuolumeni Community has a whopping three per cent out of the 1,500 employment slots approved by the Rivers State Government.

Acting Vice Chancellor of the University, Professor Okechuku Onuchuku said this on Monday, May 19, 2025 while exchanging views with journalists following a protest by members of Rumuolumeni Community at the University entrance.

He explained that if the 1,500 employment slots, comprising 1,100 for academics and 400 for non-teaching categories, were distributed equally, each LGA in the State would have had 47 slots for teaching and 17 for non-teaching.

On the contrary, according to him, the exercise was clearly done on merit and in compliance with employment law, stressing that on that premise, Rumuolumeni Community alone, which is just one ward in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, got 45 persons employed.  

He noted that, particularly as it affects junior staff, the community got 15 slots in the academic category and 30 slots in the non-teaching category, totalling 45 slots.

The Professor of Economics also reminded the community that IAUE is a public educational institution, owned by the Rivers State Government, and not an oil company operated by a private individual.

He pointed out that there is, therefore, the need to follow and obey all extant rules and regulations governing recruitment processes in tertiary educational institutions in the country.

The IAUE Vice Chancellor averred that recruitment of such nature in an academic institution must be competitive in nature, particularly, for the teaching category and other senior specialized personnel such as medical doctors, accountants, laboratory scientists, engineers, among others.

Meanwhile, he expressed his appreciation to stakeholders who are bent on supporting and promoting the image of the institution.

In a dramatic twist, the Palace of the Nye Nwe Eli of Rumuolumeni Community, His Royal Highness, Eze Chukwuemeka Victor Woji Okocha, Olumeni XII, has distanced the traditional council from the protest, asserting that the monarch “did not send the group to protest”.  

Anonymous sources in the community revealed to newsmen that the protest was sponsored by some influential members of the community whose candidates were not selected due to their inability to score the required grades during the recruitment process.