RECTORS of Federal Polytechnic Offa Dr. Lateef Olatunji and Kwara State Polytechnic, Ilorin, Kwara State Mas’ud Elelu have urged members of Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) and polytechnics owner governments to embrace dialogue.
Specifically, Elelu urged ASUP to desist from taking an extremist position on bone of contentions between them and owner governments.
He said strike action is not the only solution to challenges confronting education.
Elelu told reporters in Ilorin, the state capital, ahead of today’s 25th convocation ceremonies of the institution.
He said the institution, in its usual characteristic, did not join the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnic (ASUP) strike.
Elelu, who said academic staff of the institution would be involved in the convocation ceremony, expressed displeasure that ASUP decided to embark on the nationwide strike.
He said though the polytechnic education is confronted with many challenges, an industrial action is not the only way to find solutions to the challenges.
To Olatunji, academic unions must change their orientation, saying that governments and unions should always embrace dialogue.
The rector said academic teachers in developed world do have issues with government, adding that their orientation of dialogue, rather than strike actions had helped smoothen and stabilise academic calendar.
He spoke in Offa, Offa Local Government Area at the institution’s 25th matriculation ceremony.
The National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) has urged polytechnics to acquire modern equipment for teaching and administrative purposes.
The Director, Polytechnic Programmes, NBTE, Mallam Musa Isgogo, who led 76 resource personnel to The Polytechnic, Ibadan, for accreditation, said modern equipment were necessary for accreditation of courses in polytechnics, to meet global trend.
A statement by the institution’s spokesman, Alhaji Adewole Soladoye, said the Rector, Prof. Olatunde Fawole, who received the team on behalf of the Governing Council and management, noted that Ibadan polytechnic prepared for the accreditation team in terms of equipment and personnel.
Isgogo said: “The essence of accreditation and re-accreditation is to ensure quality control of the programmes run by institutions under the supervision of NBTE. Institutions must have modern equipment and facilities to meet NBTE’s requirements for their programmes.
“Any institution that fails in this respect will be denied accreditation, which is meant to ensure that institutions have modern facilities, such as health centres, accommodation for workers and students, office for administrative and teaching workers, among others.”
Ibadan Poly presented 23 National Diploma and Higher National Diploma courses for accreditation.
The courses include: Electrical/Electronics, Mechanical Manufacturing & Power Plant, Civil Engineering, Mechatronics, Computer Science, Geological Technology, Statistics, Architectural Technology, Surveying and Geoformatics, Art & Design, Fashion Design & Clothing and Insurance.
Others are: Statistics, Architectural Technology, Quantity Surveying, Urban and Regional Planning, Purchasing & Supply, Mass Communication, Electrical Electronics, Computer Engineering, Computer Science and Geological Technology.
Next month, Lagos State Polytechnic (LASPOTECH) Rector Dr Abdulazeez Lawal will end his four-year tenure. But his exit may be controversial. Some members of the staff and indigenes of Ikorodu, the school’s host community, have petitioned Governor Babatunde Fashola to probe him for alleged highhandedness and misconduct, reports KUNLE AKINRINADE.
Lagos State Polytechnic (LASPOTECH) Rector Dr Abdulazeez Lawal’s four-year tenure ends next month. But, controversy is trailing his remaining time in office. Some members of staff and indigenes of Ikorodu, the institution’s host community, are accusing him of highhandedness and favouritism.
The crisis came to the fore last weekend, following the aggrieved workers’ and community’s petitions, asking Governor Babatunde Fashola to probe the rector for what they called maladministration and gross misconduct.
The petitioners accused him of, among others, lack of leadership quality, fighting members of staff he perceived as enemies and plotting to install a stooge as his successor.
A petition by some teaching staff obtained by CAMPUSLIFE accused the rector of having contempt for due process. They described Lawal’s leadership style as an aberration.
A worker in the Council Affairs Unit of the Registry Department, Waheed Adelaja, who signed one of the petitions, wrote: “To Dr Lawal, everybody who wronged him when he was the Chief Imam of the polytechnic is his perceived enemy and must be persecuted. The rector sets up panels and unilaterally determines what the findings and recommendations of the panel should be.
•Dr Lawal
“If the panel exonerates his enemy, Dr Lawal would overrule it and enforce his harsh decision on the affected staff. This is a typical case of our colleagues, who were demoted at the Department of Computer Science recently. They are Saheed Ololade Adelanwa, PFAS/600; Jerry Abayomi Sarumi PFAS/669 and Ibitoye Akinfolajinmi Akinrinlola PFAS/606.”
“While these lawfully-employed young lecturers faced harrowing experience to save their jobs, a female staff in the Department of Hospitality Management Technology, was allowed to work and walk freely after a panel discovered she forged her certificate with which she applied for job. This is just one out of many double standards the rector has been perpetrating in the polytechnic.”
The petitioner also accused the rector of draining the school resources through his company and those of his loyalists. He urged the governor to establish the true identities of the construction firms and contractors the school is dealing with.
Adelaja added: “Mr. Governor sir, you may wish to investigate these conduit pipes: Haf-Hax Technology, Lastak Limited and Wako Construction Limited. The companies have been used to drain the resources of the school and we urge you to unravel those behind the firms.”
In their petition, the Concerned Ikorodu Indigenes condemned the outgoing rector for trying to influence the selection of his successor, vowing to resist Lawal’s move to install his stooge.
Dismising the allegations, the embattled rector described the petitioners as disgruntled elements.
In a statement by the Public Relations Officer (PRO), Mr Lanre Kuye, the rector said: “There is no iota of truth in the petitions written by the disgruntled elements. We want the public to know that members of staff, who were demoted, were queried and interrogated by the school panels and they were found guilty.
“The Senior Staff Appointment and Promotion Committee (SESAPCO) considered the reports of the panel and recommendation made to the Governing Council. The affected staff members were punished according to the regulation of the polytechnic.”
On the allegation of imposition of the rector’s successor, Kuye said: “This should not raise any dust, because the moderator of that is Governor Fashola. The governor has appointed people of honour and integrity to conduct interview for candidates vying to succeed Dr Lawal. There are commissioners, special advisers, rectors of other schools, members of the school’s academic board and Philip Consulting on the panel as observers. These are people of integrity to make recommendations to the governor on who to appoint as rector. Let us wait for the outcome. The Special Adviser to the governor on Education was not the chairman of the panel; he is a member.”
The PRO said the school does not have a Governing Council, noting that all its activities are approved by top members of the management and two cabinet-ranking Special Advisers to the governor.
He said the Special Advisers do not have sole authority on any approval made at the meeting. “We have records of these meetings. All the meetings and resolutions were conducted in the open and are never shrouded in secrecy. The Special Advisers are men of integrity; we should not soil their reputations,” he said.
On the ownership of the firms used by the school for construction and supplies, Kuye said: “Haf-Hax Technology has been doing business with the polytechnic for long. So also is Lastak and Wako, which had been registered with the school for years. LASPOTECH is well-managed and there is no truth in the allegation of draining its resources. It is normal for some people to be disgruntled with the system. It is expected.”
The Committee of Heads (COHEADS) of Polytechnics and Colleges of Technology are set to tackle discrimination against polytechnic graduates in the private sector.
Rector of the Lagos State Polytechnic, Dr Abdulazeez Lawal, said the Committee had resolved to withdraw businesses from organisations such as banks and insurance companies.
Reacting to the HND/BSc dichotomy during a press conference ahead of the institution’s 23rd Convocation, Lawal said: “We are looking at how to close the gap. One of the agitation of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) was the dichotomy issue. Government has set up a panel and we are expecting the report.
“At COHEADS level, we also deliberated on this and noted that the discrimination is not peculiar to public service. Some private institutions also discriminate.
“We have decided to take a number of steps. Where we see such clear discrimination, like in the banks or insurance sector, we may not patronise them again. We will withdraw our funds.”
Lawal said though polytechnics have been scrapped in many developed countries they can still function effectively in Nigeria without discrimination.
“As we are moving in line with theory, the university will conduct research, give us the outcome and then we translate them into innovation. And that is why polytechnics will remain. All we need is for government to remove the discrimination,” he said.
At today’s convocation, 7,022 full-time and part-time students who have undergone National Diploma (ND) and Higher National Diploma (HND) programmes would graduate from the polytechnic.
The Rector said they would be presented with their certificates same day – a first in the history of the 37-year old institution. The convocation would serve as the last to be convened by the rector, whose four-year tenure ends in June.
Lawal said the polytechnic expanded in terms of programmes, facilities and improved on welfare and manpower development. Regarding facilities, the rector said a lot of renovations and constructions have been done on the three campuses of the institution in Ikorodu, Isolo and Surulere.
He added that with the increment in the number of lecturers sponsored for their PhDs locally and internationally, the academic culture of the polytechnic is set to further improve.
Activities to mark the convocation included: prayer sessions for the graduands, convocation lecture, and variety show.
Rector, Auchi polytechnic, Dr Philipa Idogho, has approved the appointment of two deputy Rectors for the institution.
They are Mr Fred Agboinghale (Deputy Rector, Administration) and Mr Jafaru Buraimah (Deputy Rector, Academics.
Until their appointments, Agboinghale was a chief lecturer and Dean, School of Applied Science and Technology and also chairman, Committee of Deans, while Buraimah, an engineer, was a chief lecturer and Chairman, Housing Committee of the polytechnic.
The newly appointed deputy rectors took over from Dr. S.G. Eshiotse (Administration) and Mr E. U. Onochie (Academics) who have completed their tenures.
Eshiotse will serve as the Director of Degree programmes, while Onochie’s new assignment is to head the Centre for Equipment Maintenance and Industrial Training.
Other new officials include: Mr F.U. Balogun, Dean, School of Evening Studies, and Mr A. A. Obomeghie, Acting Dean, School of Applied Science and Technology.
The Committee of Heads of Polytechnics and Colleges of Technology (COHEADs) has been urged to sponsor a private bill at the National Assembly for the establishment of the National Sports Development Fund (NSDF).
This call was contained in a communiqué signed by the Chairman, technical committee, Mr. Jones Onilaja and the Chairman, Planning Committee, Pastor Adekunle Ayodele at the 4th National Workshop for Sports Officers oragnised by the Nigeria Polytechnic Games Association (NIPOGA) at the Federal Polytechnic Bida, Niger State.
The officers said the fund will help address the “funding of sporting programmes in our tertiary institutions, in view of the huge burden that can no longer financed and sustained by the management of institutions alone.”
The workshop called on COHEAD to sponsor consultants that will articulate and fashion the proposed bill after that of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND).
The workshop which was in preparation for the forth coming NIPOGA had Enhancing Technological Reforms through Sports Programme in Polytechnics and Colleges of Technology in Nigeria as its theme.
It called for the review of some polytechnics’ curricula and the introduction of Physical and Health Education (PHE) courses with the view of boosting sporting activities on campuses.
The participants urged polytechnics to comply with the National Policy for Sports which set aside Wednesdays afternoons as lecture-free as well as give concession to students who missed assignments, tests, examinations as a result of participation in Sports,
Disturbed the “fire-brigade” approach towards preparations for the biennial games, the participants urged polytechnics and colleges of technology management to strategise on how to attract elite athletes to their institutions.
Professor Godwin Onu’s desire to serve as the Rector of the Federal Polytechnic Oko, Anambra State may not happen as straightforward as he expects as intense lobbying has started in the polytechnic for a replacement should he fail to get it.
Onu will be going on his annual leave in December after four years in office. He is due to bow out March next year unless he is re-appointed by the President Goodluck Jonathan on recommendations of the Governing Council of the Polytechnic to the minister of education.
But a source from the polytechnic, who pleaded anonymity, said some others equally interested in the exalted office are not sitting still.
The source said: ”The Rector, Prof Onu wants a second term and many others here want him back to the university were he came to be the Rector because there are many qualified people here who can be Rector.
“And there are odds against him especially as there is no governing council. Rectors seeking for a second tenure need not present themselves but may be considered on the recommendation of a governing council and relevant interested parties in the institution.
“Prof Godwin Onu majored in Political Science, which is not contained in the courses offered by Polytechnics.This matter was exhaustively discussed in the Federal Ministry of Education and it was resolved that Prof Onu should serve for one term only.”
Some others jostling for his job are Dr Obi-Okpala, a Chief Lecturer and immediate past Director Academic Planning; Dr Rose Nwankwo, immediate past HOD, Public Administration.
Other contenders, who have served in other positions, except that of the rector are Dr J. C. Aroh, Dr A. B. Azuka and Mr Emeka Afugbuem.
With the impending selection to be made, the Academic staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) of the institution led by Dr Onyeka Uwakwe lamented the unexplained delay in the inauguration of a Governing Council for the institution for over six months now.
The Non-Academic staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) led by Comrade Ik Ezenwankwo also demanded that the Federal Government re-constitute one immediately.
