The Federal Government of Nigeria has appointed Chemist Akwaowo Idongesit Reuben as the new Acting Registrar and Chief Executive Officer to the Institute of Chartered Chemists of Nigeria (ICCON). This follows the expiration of the second tenure of the former Registrar Chemist Jwalshik Wilford.
The appointment was formalized with a letter released from the office of the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare dated August 5, 2026.
Earlier, the Honourable Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Iziaq Adekunle Salako had publicly pronounced Chemist Akwaowo’s appointment during a meeting with the Permanent Secretary, Heads of Departments, and Directors on Wednesday, June 10, 2026, in the Minister’s Conference Room.
He directed that the appointment was automatic and effective from 1st June, 2026, following the satisfactory handover that followed the succession procedure.
The Minister nullified the earlier process put in place for a substantive appointment, citing it as a contravention of the provisions of the ICCON Act.
He then directed that the appointment letter be issued without further delay.
He admonished the new ICCON Chief Executive to take charge and ensure that the Institute is on the path of peace and progress to deliver its mandates.
In his response, Chemist Akwaowo thanked the Honourable Minister for pronouncing the appointment publicly, which has laid to rest every uncertainty surrounding the leadership of the Institute. He pledged his unalloyed loyalty to the Federal Government and the Minister and promised to work with his Management Team to align with the policy directives of the Ministry as well as the renewed hope agenda of the Federal Government.
By this appointment, Chemist Akwaowo becomes the first to assume the mantle of leadership of the Institute that rose through the ranks and file to the position of Director, Scientific.
He therefore takes over the baton as the Chief Administrator and custodian of the practice of the Chemistry Profession in Nigeria.
Chemist Akwaowo Idongesit Reuben attended the prestigious Hope Waddell Training Institution in Calabar. He studied Pure and Applied Chemistry at the University of Calabar and graduated in 1990 with Second Class Upper Division, where he won Prof. D. U. Ekong’s prize for the best all-round student award.
He later bagged an M.Sc degree in Organic Chemistry from the University of Ibadan in 1998.
On graduation, he served as a Chemistry teacher. Thereafter, he had his earlier stint in the media industry as a Senior Cartoonist with the Rivers State Newspaper Corporation, publishers of The Tide Newspapers (1993-1997) with the pen name “IdongPEE”. He was later appointed as Assistant Science Editor with South-South Express Newspapers (1999-2001). Served as Sports Editor with The Mirror; Chief Cartoonist, Independent Monitor and rose to the position of Executive Editor with National Network Newspaper, Port Harcourt in 2004.
Mr Akwaowo later joined ICCON in 2005 as a pioneer staff, rose through the ranks and served in many capacities transcending virtually all the Departments in the Institute including HOD, Administration/Accounts & Finance.
Most recently he served as the pioneer Team Lead and the Registrar/CEO Representative in the National Chemical Personnel Audit excercise which forms part of the Institute’s regulatory mandates.
He has attended various courses and workshops and represented the Institute at various conferences and fora.
Chemist Akwaowo is a Chartered Chemist and also a member of several professional bodies including Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN), Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM), and most recently, Chemical Society of Nigeria (CSN)
Having risen to the rank of Director, Scientific, effective 2025, until his appointment, he was the Coordinator, Zonal Offices of ICCON.
The extraordinary Chemist with widespread media and regulatory backgrounds is married with children. ICCON PRESS RELEASE
