Stakeholders: Neglect of Poly Education, Bane of Nigeria’s Technological Advancement

Segun Awofadeji

Stakeholders in the polytechnic system across the country have lamented that the neglect of polytechnic education by the federal government had undermined the growth of technology in the country and also caused mass exit from the system, of experienced and well-trained intellectuals in areas of dire need, as well as low enrolment of students into polytechnics

National, state leaders of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) and rectors of various polytechnics in the country made this known during the 14th National Delegates Conference (NDC) of the union held at the Federal Polytechnic, Bauchi.

In his remarks, the National President of ASUP, Usman Yusuf Dutse alleged that polytechnic education in the country has become endangered owing to persistent neglect, underfunding, unfavourable/ conflicting policies, obsolete instruments of operation, decay of infrastructure and poor condition of service.

“As major stakeholders in the sector, we cannot ignore the fact that the problems of polytechnic education in Nigeria are becoming increasingly worrisome. Our sector is discriminated against and our graduates are ridiculed at points of employment not because they lack the capacity, but because marginalisation is enshrined in the policies and laws of the country.

“From records available to us, 1.5 million persons apply to universities, while less than 40,000 apply to the polytechnics. Several efforts for the total removal of the dichotomy are still being sabotaged by some government interest.”

The ASUP president stated that the union embarked on the recent strike due to the failure of government at various levels to give the desired attention to the plight of polytechnic education in Nigeria, pointing out that the government should match words with action and sincerity in order to ensure lasting industrial peace in the sector.

The Rector, Federal Polytechnic Bauchi, Dr. Shuaibu Musa, regretted that inadequate funding has crippled the broad and existing national policies and programmes of polytechnic education, saying that these issues need to be tackled to enable the nation benefit from the huge potential of polytechnic education for the provision of skilled manpower for sustained economic development.

He highlighted some of the achievements recorded in his eight year tenure in the polytechnic, which will expire at the end of December, 2017 to include recruitment of 240 academic staff of various ranks, approval of study fellowship in Nigeria and international universities to 60 for men for PhD, 125 for masters degrees and 300 staff who attended national and international conferences, among others.