The Rector of the Adamawa State Polytechnic, Yola, Prof. Ibrahim Umar, is an educationist and an experienced civil servant, who has risen through the ranks to attain his present status. His amazing transformation agenda is already breaking the frontiers of education in higher Institutions in the state. In this interview, the rector shares his experience with EMMANUEL SAMUEL. Excerpts:
Sir, how would you evaluate your performance since your assumption of office as the Rector of the polytechnic?
Well, the journey has not been rosy, because I came in when there was student demonstration. There were serious challenges here and there, but I was able to overcome the problems. Within that period also, we were able to do certain things to improve teaching and learning. One of the things I did was to go round the campus because we have three campuses- the Yola main campus in Jemita, Jambutu and then the Numan campus to see for myself the problems on ground, the level of academic activities and the infrastructure. When I went round, I found out that especially in Numan campus, all the hostels were in a very bad sharp. Most of the buildings in the campuses were dilapidated; so I renovated the female hostel at Numan. I also renovated the student affairs block, which was gutted by fire, including the female hostel in Yola. I also renovated the former library, which was abandoned and turned it to a commercial venture. Also, within the period, I provided 10 offices at the College for Continuing Education. I also created the College of Social and Management Sciences. I introduced new academic programmes, including Computer Engineering, and Electronics, and Printing Technology, which will start from 2018/2019 session. We installed 100 desktop computers to boost students’ performance. Also, the Sciences and Painting Technology, where paint can be produced in Yola. I succeeded in introducing the CCTV just to enhance security situation in the campus. To improve the revenue generation base in the campus, we started up a poultry farm production with over 4000 birds. Along the line also, government gave us the approval to employ staff, both academic and non-academic. We have employed staff for the clinic on 24 hours services and are providing free medical services to all staff and students including drugs. Talking about transportation, I was able to purchase buses worth N75 million. When I took over, the students population was dwindling; we now decided on how we do in order to start degree programmes.
What contributions have the Federal and state governments made in funding the institution?
The Federal Government has assisted the Polytechnic a lot. I inherited uncompleted projects from my predecessors and one of the projects has been completed, and that is the female hostel. They have done a lot in assisting in construction, including the e-Library which is ongoing and has attained 90% completion; that also is through the TETFUND. This year, TETFUND gave us the approval of N75million to purchase buses and 100 pieces of computer. The contractors have forwarded the contract and have supplied. They have supplied the materials to the Polytechnic. The 100 pieces of computers have been installed in the library and the buses have also been supplied. We also have our allocation for 2016/2017, which is about N504million, which we will utilise in building our academic colleges.
Sir, how would you assess government investment interest in the polytechnics compared to the universities?
Yes, in terms of funding, government gives priority to universities. Generally, Polytechnics are not considered. However, both the Federal and state governments are assisting the polytechnics. Take for example, the Federal Government is spending a lot of money on the provision of infrastructure. Apart from that, the Federal Government is also spending money on the training of staff, both academic and non-academic, in terms of acquiring affordable degrees; that is fellowships, PGDs and that is outside Nigeria. You see, one of the problems with the Polytechnic is that parents want their wards to attend degree programmes. Nigerians prefer degrees certificates now more to the HND certificates. That is why the polytechnics are now affected. So, because of what is happening in the system, we are encouraging more people to do HND programmes in Nigeria to avoid the problem of lack of employment in Nigeria. They are supposed to provide skilled manpower in the industries, but now everybody wants white collar jobs. Nobody wants to do any other thing except office work. However, things are changing now because there are no more jobs available. People are now coming back to the polytechnics to acquire skills so that they can be on their own.
What is your reaction to the discrimination against polytechnic graduates in Nigeria? Polytechnic graduates are barely recognised in most organisations?
You see, that is what I said before. People prefer degree certificates; nobody wants to do Engineering or be in the Sciences aspects or any other course. They prefer Social Sciences, which is easier than the engineering courses. Our emphasis now is that for a son to go and do a degree without any job, let him do the HND and be self-employed. This has also affected the government because from the beginning government gave priority to the universities. The government is always emphasising on universities. They don’t lay emphasis on polytechnics and because of that, somebody will finish his degree programme and he will be placed on grade level 8. Somebody will graduate with HND and he too will be placed on grade level 8, but he will get to a certain level and cannot exceed grade level 13 because they will say there is no more promotion since he has no degree. That has been changed because government has a policy. Now, degree and HND certificates are the same. Degree and HND holders will be employed on the same level and terminate on the same level. This has now encouraged people to come to do HND programmes.
How would you rate the country’s education system?
Well, the education standard in Nigeria, you cannot say it is dropping. Nigeria is still doing very well, our universities and Polytechnic are well funded. Our graduates can be compared to any other graduate in the world because we have sent people outside and they have never failed. We are better than other countries. It is not easy, but our education system is okay. You find out that the whole system depends on the government and government has so many things to handle. It is not easy for the government to provide finances for all institutions, but honestly speaking, through Tertiary Education Trust Fund, the government is trying. Through the coming of TETFUND, there are great improvements in the area of staff development and infrastructure; in terms of staff academic fellowship, there is great improvement. I think our educational system is doing very well. Yes, we have problems but not insurmountable. The universities will now have to generate revenue to supplement what is being given by the government. That is why in many universities now you have commercial ventures to complement what the government is providing.
Is there any appeal you would want to make to the government?
Yes, my appeal is just one thing, on finances. Currently, the government provides the running cost and that is not enough. The government should improve our running cost. Because we spend a lot in running the system, for example, electricity bill alone is over a N100,000. We maintain our generators, maintain our buses, and maintain our facilities, which are very expensive. We hope the government will improve our running cost. We know the government is also battling with financial issues but we hope the government will provide us with more funds to address some of these issues.
