Ogun State governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, has forwarded a bill to the state House of Assembly requesting the upgrade of the Moshood Abiola Polytechnic (MAPOLY) to a degree-awarding institution. This is in confirmation of earlier moves by the Governing Council and management of the institution to achieve this.
The conversion of MAPOLY to MAUTECH could be seen as a double-edged sword to the lecturers and the students in the sense that they would see it as a kind of advancement in their profession and academic work. It will also neutralise the dichotomy between Bachelors and HND certificates, as the institution will now offer students the Bachelor of Technology (B. Tech) certificate. The 37-year-old institution will then join other technology-based institutions in Nigeria, including the five federal universities of technology located in Minna, Akure, Owerri, Yola and Bauchi and others.
The management of MAPOLY has moved to welcome this watershed in the history of the institution by moving to build a Senate building and getting other equipment that would make the proposed university to operate well. It is also on record that as part of efforts heralding the upgrade of the institution, the management said it would need about N40 million to put necessary things in place. Moves have also been expedited on the acquisition of licence for the institution’s campus radio.
I implore the state government, legislature, National Universities Commission (NUC), lecturers, students and other stakeholders to expedite action on the upgrading of MAPOLY to MAUTECH. The concerned stakeholders should learn from the mistakes made when between six and eight polytechnics in Ghana were converted to technical institutes in fulfillment of a major campaign pledge in the 2012 presidential election by President John Mahama. The relevance and processes of the conversion of the polytechnics remained a subject of intense debate for several months.
I believe the decision to upgrade the institution is welcome and would augur well for both students and staff of the institution. Though preparations are on the ground for the upgrade, stakeholders, lecturers and students need to ask some fundamental questions before reaching a compromise. Will the Bachelor of Technology to be awarded be on a par with the Bachelor of Science awarded by the conventional universities in the country?
It is also worthy of note that stakeholders are not expecting a second-class university out of this polytechnic.
MAPOLY has, for 37 years, diligently assisted in the upholding of educational standards and values in the country. This is evident in the quantity and quality of its graduates. Its strides in Mass Communication, Accounting, Science Laboratory Technology, Engineering, etc., has made it primus inter pares. It is often said that there is hardly any media house in the country without at least a MAPOLY Mass Communication graduate. Engineering students of the institution over the years produced electronic ballot box, tricycle, fuel-less generator, petrol-kerosene dual generator, solar powered streetlights and lawnmower, sieving machine etc. I strongly believe that the proposed Moshood Abiola University of Technology will join the league of top universities in and outside the shores of Nigeria.
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