The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Rector

  • New deputy rectors

    DR. Ayodele Kuburat Olaosebikan and Mr Biaminu Oshe Saliu have been appointed deputy rectors. While Dr Kuburat Olaosebikan is in charge of Administration, Mr Saliu will manage Academic Matters.

    Their appointment followed the approval by the Minister of Education, Prof Ruqayyatu Ahmed Rufa’i, on the recommendation of the Expanded Management Committee of the Polytechnic.

    The new deputies will replace Pastor John Ayeni and Mr. Eghe Igbinehi whose second terms in office have expired.

    Prior to her appointment, Dr Olaosebikan was the Dean, Centre for Continuing Education (CCE). Olaosebikan, who was born in June 1959, is an alumni of the University of Ibadan where she studied English.

    Mr Saliu was born in July 1952. He had his first degree in Mathematics from the Ahmadu Bello University in 1979.

    He had his Masters in Mathematics in 1983 at the University of Ilorin.

     

  • Rector urges students to shun cultism

    None of the 4,800 new students of the Plateau State Polytechnic, Barkin-Ladi, will join a cult group unless he or she wants to leave the institution.

    The Rector, Mr Dauda Gyemang, has listed cultism among the no-go areas for the students.

    He has also named groups or associations they should not join.

    Speaking at the matriculation of the students, Gyemang said they should be wary of associations with seemingly harmless names as they could be dangerous.

    “Be wary of students’ association like the Amazons, Temple of Eden, Gentlemen’s Club, Sea Dogs, The Jurist, National Association of Air Loads, Daughters of Jezebel and the Black braziers, among others. These names may sound funny and harmless, but they are very dangerous and deadly,“ he said.

    He urged them to be serious with their studies given that only 40 per cent of the 12,000 candidates who applied were admitted to study Arts, Social Science and Pure Sciences courses, only 4,510 were admitted.

    “It may interest you to note that the institution received a total of 12,000 applications for the 2012/2013 academic session. However, only 4, 800 students were offered admission based on the school’s carrying capacity.

    “You should, therefore,count yourselves lucky to have scaled through the rigorous process of our admission exercise. You were able to make it because you are the most qualified,” he said.

    Gyemang assured the students that the institution would groom the students academically and mould their character to excel in various endeavours.

    To this end, he said that the institution is committed to providing the necessary infrastructure, and has entered into partnership with the Waterfall Institution of Technology, Ireland and ICT University Louisiana, United States, for transfer and exchange programmes.

    “Such partnership would in no distant time transform this 35-year old Polytechnic into a centre of excellence and would also enable us meet up with the global challenge in the 21st century,” he said.

    Gyemang urged the students to be focused on their academics, shun cultism, examination malpractice and other forms of lawlessness.

    The Plateau State Commissioner for Education, Mr Nanle Dashen, who was represented by the Director for Higher Education in the ministry, Mrs Sarah Ramadan, urged the students to work hard.

    He restated the state govern-ment’s commitment to transform the education sector.

    The commissioner said the government is making efforts to provide more funds for the construction of additional hostels, laboratories and recruitment of workers.

  • Rector charges freshers on discipline, hard work

    The Rector of the Federal Polytechnic, Oko (OKO POLY), Anambra State, Prof Godwin Onu, has advised freshers admitted into the institution to work hard to achieve excellence.

    He also charged them to stick to the school regulation, saying they must shun cultism, drug abuse and examination malpractice, which he said could terminate the programmes of students involved in the vices.

    Prof. Onu gave the charge at the 29th matriculation of the institution, which was held at the convocation arena. He reminded the students that the institution had zero tolerance for forgery, saying the management would not hesitate to terminate the admission of anyone found guilty.

    He said: “I wish to state emphatically that you have nothing to regret; you have made a right choice as we have made great effort to improve your learning and place it to an enviable citadel of learning.”

    The Registrar, Mr Tony Nwokolobia, told the students to live up to expectations, urging them not to engage in examination misconduct. He said the polytechnic was vigilant and had put measures in place to check security breaches in and outside the campus.

    The Director of Students’ Affairs (DSA), Mrs Esther Odigwe, who told the freshers to adhere to matriculation oath, told them to take the bull by the horn by making their academics their priority.

    Tochukwu Egwuatu, ND 1 Office Technology and Management, said she was happy being admitted into institution. She described the Prof Onu as a “digital rector” for embarking on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) project. She promised to abide by the rules and regulations of the institution.

     

  • Rector warns against fake credentials

    Rector warns against fake credentials

    Rector of the Federal Polytechnic, Auchi, Edo State, Dr Philipa Idogho, has warned students against parading fake credentials.

    Speaking at the 30th matriculation of the institution last weekend, the Rector cautioned the new students that the polytechnic frowns at such practice and also would not hesitate to sanction any students caught in ex-amination malpractices.

    She said the polytechnic has a verification machinery for ensuring that students with fake credentials were detected.

    Idogho said those caught with fake credentials and certificates would be expelled while those caught engaging in examination malpractices would be rusticated.

    “The polytechnic is governed by rules and regulations which you are all expected to be conversant with,” she said.

    She said only 5,951 out of the 26,000 applicants were offered admission in keeping with the carrying capacity of the institution.

    Dr Idogho said the school wanted to ensure conducive learning environment for all students rather than admitting students that would overcrowd its facilities.

    To this end she also disclosed that 132 offices would be commissioned for the use by workers this year.

    She counseled the students to incorporate ICT into their learning in line with global trends.

    “There is need to emphasise that education is now going the way of e-learning. The polytechnic has three e-learning centers, in addition to two units donated by NITDA. As much as we have encouraged staff to be computer literate, it is also necessary that students begin to imbibe the correct use of computers for learning,” she said.

  • Rector demands more investment in education

    The Rector of the Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo (RUGIPO), Prof Igbekele Ajibefun, has called for more investment in youth education to enable government achieve its developmental programmes.

    He spoke at the Excellence and Leadership Award Night organised by Sunshine State Youth Movement. The event was held at the conference hall of Solton International Hotel, Ijapo Estate, Akure, Ondo State.

    In his paper titled Leadership and youth development: The critical nexus, Ajibefun stated that investment in education was investment in future, stressing that education was crucial to socio-economic transformation and nation building. He noted that some developing nations were not releasing money to fund their tertiary education system, stating: “achievment of a functional education system requires heavy investment.”

    Ajibefun, however, praised the resolve of the Ondo State Governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, to provide fund for education at all levels, pointing to emergence of mega schools across the state and the massive infrastructural development going on in RUGIPO and state-owned institutions.

    He noted that youth development was a policy perspective that emphasised provision of services and opportunities to support young people in developing a sense of competence, usefulness, belonging and empowerment, which education must play a key role.

    The Rector said availability of opportunities for youth would help them navigate through the social, political and economic realities of the 21st century. He also recognised honour, honesty, courage, integrity and loyalty as values required for youth development. According to him, the values remain the platform to pilot youth vision for their future.

    The award night was attended by dignitaries among who were the wife of the Ondo State Governor, Mrs Olukemi Mimiko, representative of the Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), Prof Tolu Akinbogun, Chief Rotimi Olusanya, Asamo of Akure Land, who represented the Deji of Akure, Vice-Chancellor, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA), Prof Femi Mimiko, and Ondo State Commissioner for Health, Dr Dayo Adeyanju.

  • Rector seeks proper management of TVE schools

    Rector seeks proper management of TVE schools

    The Rector, Abia State Polytechnic, Aba, Elder Allwell Onukaogu has called for the proper equipping and staffing of Technical and Vocational Education (TVE) institutions in Nigeria.

    Speaking at a stakeholders’ workshop/exhibition on the National System of Innovation (NSI) in Aba, Onukaogu lamented that TVE institutions are inadequate in Nigeria and where they exist, are poorly managed and lack learning resources and teachers.

    “The catchment institutions from where these tertiary institutions should recruit their raw materials are virtually inexistent. Also, the few existing ones are poorly-equipped and hardly staffed. People must be encouraged to acquire vocational education in well-equipped and staffed vocational schools. They should believe in dignity of labour,” he said.

    The Rector said further that products of tertiary institutions lack skills to back their certificates.

    “The situation that persists in Nigeria today is one where the very rich have almost exclusive access to tertiary education and can therefore acquire all manners of certificates not necessarily backed with the relevant competences. We therefore have an economy that is filled with certificate-branding products of tertiary institutions – graduates with virtually no skills to market and who feel too big to engage in vocations. These must also be addressed,” he said.

    Calling on the government to create enabling environment for students to realise their potentials in their areas of talent and interest, the scholar said people should discard the impression that everybody has the capacity to acquire education at the tertiary level but rather believe in dignity of labour.

    “Everybody should be given equal opportunity to attain to the highest level of his ability. Some will drop at the secondary or other levels. Such people should be encouraged to acquire vocational education in well-equipped and staffed vocational schools. They should believe in dignity of labour,” he said.

    He thanked the federal and state governments for establishing polytechnics and universities of science and technology but noted the need to ensure that the human capital they produce can meet the need of industry.

    Earlier in his address, the Minister of Science and Technology, Prof Ita Okon Bassey Ewa, noted that the main purpose of the event was to present the framework of the NSI developed by the ministry to the public for critiquing.

    Ewa, represented by the Director, Technology Acquisition and Assessment (TAA) in the ministry, Dr Adeneye Talabi, recalled that the policy is a clear commitment of the President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration to use Science, Technology and Innovation as tools for the transformation of the nation’s economic fortunes and hoped that the NSI framework will evolve a strategy to foster innovations at all levels of government in Nigeria.

     

  • You are the best, Rector tells graduating students

    The acting Rector of the Federal Polytechnic, Ede, Dr. Olukayode Adebile, has said the institution’s graduates rank among the best in Nigeria,

    He added that the academic excellence attained by the institution has propelled them to strive harder not only to sustain the standard but to maintain a continuous improvement.

    This was made known at the eighth convocation ceremony of the 20- year old institution in Ede over the weekend.

    He noted that the institution has invested substantially in the upgrading of laboratories, workshops and staff offices to improve the quality of teaching and learning.

    Assuring that the infrastructural development of the South campus is ongoing, he added that virtually all ongoing projects under construction are almost completed.

    He charged public, private and corporate bodies to come to the aid of the institution as government alone cannot shoulder the responsibility of providing qualitative education.

    Advising the 1, 926 Ordinary National Diploma and Higher National Diploma graduates to be proud and be ready to finance and nurture their alma-mater, Dr. Adebile expressed gratitude to the Federal Government, the Government of Osun State, the host community and its monarch, the Timi of Ede, Oba Munirudeen Adesola Lawal; his predecessor, Dr. J.S Oke and an alumnus who is now a commissioner for finance in Oyo State, Mr. Zacheaus Adelabu for their support.

    He affirmed that the institution has secured approval to run Geological Technology and Mechanical Engineering at National Diploma level.

    Meanwhile, the honourable Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqayyatu Ahmed Rufa’i has commended the management of the Polytechnic for their vision and missionary zeal in running the affairs of the institution.

    Without tertiary education, she affirmed, the nation’s quest for qualitative human capital development would be a mirage.

    Her words: “This why Government will remain committed to funding this sub-sector adequately. You’ll therefore observe that the Federal Government has reinvigorated the funding of tertiary education through Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).”

     

     

  • Rector foresees educational decline

    THE Rector, Abia State Polytechnic, Aba, Elder Allwell Onukaogu has warned that the present decadence in the nation’s education sector is capable of truncating the future of Nigerian youths if the Ministries of Education fail to set standards for which schools should operate.

    The rector made this submission while presenting a paper tagged: ‘Re-Inventing Yesterday’s Educational Practices Today for a Better Tomorrow’, in Aba during the maiden edition of a public lecture organised by Believers’ Loveworld (Aka Christ Embassy) as part of its programmes to mark the 52nd anniversary of Nigeria Independence in the city of Aba.

    According to him, academic successes of coming generations will suffer greatly if the standard of education in Nigeria is not properly repositioned to address the fallen standard of education as witnessed in recent times in the country.

    “The rot we see and smell of today will be far better than the decadence, irreversible decadence putrefying decadence which will be the fate of our children tomorrow”, he said.

    Onukaogu, while reeling out the successes recorded during the early post-colonial days in Nigeria when primary and secondary schools were still managed by missionaries, blamed the then Ukpabi Asika administration for taking away schools from people who held morality and good virtue as their watchword, adding that the worsening learning environment many public schools today have has contributed to the decline in Nigerian educational standard.

    He, however, frowned at what he described as the exorbitant fees charged by mission schools, saying this is to the detriment of poor members of the society who cannot afford to pay such fees.