Wole Adedeji, Ilorin
Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, has pleaded with various staff unions on strike in tertiary institutions across the country to be patient with government because efforts are on-ging to address their demands.
He spoke at the 10th Convocation Ceremony of the Federal Polytechnic, Offa, Kwara State, where 4,915 graduates of the institution were awarded National and Higher National Diplomas.
The Minister, who was represented by Mr. Jide Ojo, Director of Tertiary Education in the ministry, emphasised that “peace and tranquility are the fertilizers that keep the seed of development growing
“Peaceful existence is very important in our educational institutions because effective learning can only take place in a peaceful environment”, he added.
He reiterated government’s commitment to its policy on Technical Vocational Education Training (TVET) and Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) for the purpose of all round general growth and development of nation’s economy.
In his address, Rector of the Polytechnic, Dr. Lateef Olatunji, listed the achievements of the institution to include among others; ranking of the polytechnic as the 8th among State and Federal Polytechnics across the country.
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Also, Olatunji disclosed his institution’s commencement of Degree programmes in partnership with the Federal University of Technology, Minna, as well as starting an IJMB programme of the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria.
The programmes, he said, excluded regular accreditation of the polytechnics prograames by the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) and diverse capital projects and meeting Departmental requirements for smooth academic operations in the school.
Also, Chairman of the Polytechnic’s Governing Council, Chief Oseloka Zikora, commended what he described as commitment and visionary administrative style of the Rector that has brought about steady development in the institution.
Zikora beat his chest that the polytechnic had been raised to the standard where it’s products now “stand shoulder-to-shoulder with their peers anywhere in the world”.
He enjoined the Minister who is known to be the visitor to the school to ensure proper funding of the institution’s needs in all ramifications pointing out that the polytechnic had made up for the two deficient academic calendars the present management inherited and backlog of academic and non academic staff welfares.
