Mas’ud Elelu, the Rector of Kwara State Polytechnic, Ilorin, has appealed to government at all levels and well-meaning Nigerians to assist the institution for it to ensure excellence and quality technical education.
Elelu, made the plea on Wednesday while briefing journalists on the 25th pre-convocation ceremony of the polytechnic.
The Rector, who identified paucity of funds as the main challenge of the school, noted that “funding of education in Nigeria generally is becoming difficult to an unexpected level.
“We appeal to parents, old students, governments and well-meaning Nigerians to look back on our school. We cannot do it alone. They should assist us financially also, in terms of building endowments. materials and other necessary facilities in order to continue to maintain our standard”.
Speaking on the achievements of the school between last year and now, he disclosed that the polytechnic had commissioned additional two commercial banks on the campus, namely, FCMB and Access banks to minimize the risk of students going outside the school for transactions.
Elelu also informed that the polytechnic was able to access research fund fully from the tetfund, adding that the institution had started work on gas production and other valuable commodities.
“Our Polytechnic has signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), with International Institute of Tropical Agriculture( IITA), Ibadan for agric engineering program, “and we hope in future, it will bring more revenue to the school,” he added
The Rector, however, declared that the polytechnic never joined ASUP strike and it would not in future. He urged the government and school authorities in the country to reach a mutual agreement between themselves as strike should be the last resort because parents and students will suffer the consequences.
He said: “government should listen to the yearnings of lecturers and those going on strike need to look at the situation. The world is dynamic, strike should be used as the last resort. We should look at the circumstance we operate in. No country can provide all the needs of tertiary institutions in their terraine”.
