By: Abdulhafeez Oyewole
The Kwara State Polytechnic, Ilorin will on Thursday commission a 33KV injection sub -stations power project funded from its internally generated revenue (IGR), which is now providing electricity to six federal government agencies and four communities.
This is just as the polytechnic appealed to the state governor, Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq to increase funding of the polytechnic to enable it carry out its mandate.
Rector of the polytechnic, Engr. Abdul Jimoh Muhammed made this known on Wednesday during a press briefing being part of the activities slated for the polytechnic’s 29th Convocation Ceremony.
He said the lights -up Kwara poly project was first conceived to meet the institution’s power supply challenge but with its completion it serves beyond the polytechnic.
“With the approval of his Excellency mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq and relentless efforts of the management, our administration’s light- up Kwara Poly project not only the institution but more than four communities and six government agencies through the 33 KV harmony feeder linked to the institution. The project which was undertaken by the management will ensure regular power supply to the polytechnic, Apata- Yakuba, Oyun , Oke-oyi and Oke – Ose communities in Moro and Ilorin east local government areas.
“Other state and federal government agencies that will also benefits from the institution’s largeese are the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital UITH), Kwara State Television Authority, Radio Kwara , the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) , Joint Administration and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) and Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON),” he said.
The rector stated that like any other institution, the polytechnic has problems with funding, especially the current economic situation of the country and ever-increasing running costs.
He noted that the polytechnic needed a huge sum of money for accreditation of programmes and rehabilitation of aging infrastructure.
“On accreditation of programmes, quite a huge sum of money, running into millions of Naira, is needed each time the Polytechnic faces accreditation or re-accreditation of its National Diploma and Higher National Diploma programmes
“The team from the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) has always insisted on meeting the minimum requirements in order to sail through each accreditation exercise. Meeting these requirements is always a serious financial challenge for the institution.
“On aging structures, many of the buildings in the Polytechnic are very old, as old as the institution itself. Although renovation takes place from time to time, lack of sufficient funds makes it difficult to carry out comprehensive renovation and rehabilitation of the obsolete structures”, he said.
The rector therefore appealed to the state government to assist the institution with adequate funding to enable it to perform optimally.
He also appealed to the state government to, among other things, stop the selling of the institution’s land by land grabbers.
According to him, unauthorized structures have been springing up on both sides of the road leading to the main gate of the institution and constitute a great challenge to the security of the school.
The Rector also highlighted other challenges faced by the institution, including the need for a perimeter fence to enhance security and address encroachment issues.
He revealed that the Polytechnic will graduate a total of 8,350 students, consisting of 3,000 HND graduates and 5,350 OND graduates, including part-time graduates of the institution, during the convocation ceremony.
The Rector also added that a total of 102 graduates bagged distinction and upper credit.