Reinventing polytechnic education for national development

Heavy reliance on paper certificates bereft of skills and innovation has been identified as the bane of development in Nigeria. Right from the colonial era, skills, research, and innovative actions have not been accorded the right priority in tertiary institutions in the country. As it was then, so it is today. No reprieve in sight. This has ignited endemic unemployment and stunted economic growth crippling Nigerians.

When the Yaba College of Technology, the first polytechnic, was established in 1947, the mission was to drive this concept of making Nigerian graduates technologically savvy and driven. Then, policymakers strived to place a high premium on technical education that can bolster skills. However, the vision was murdered by shoddy implementation and poor Nigerian attitude toward polytechnic education.

It was in recognition of this sordid trend that Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, in 2002, established the Centres for Innovation and Research Development in some schools. The mission was to reignite the passion for technical education. Despite this well-articulated vision, the execution failed and fell flat like a pack of cards.

The liberalisation policy leading to the privatisation of polytechnic education is gradually bringing a new paradigm shift. Under this context, several private polytechnics have been accredited to operate and reset the nation on a higher pedestal.

But it is exhilarating and heartwarming that the newly established Montgomery Polytechnic, Ikere Ekiti, may become a template that will bring the desired vision to the system when fully operational.

On November 6, 2024, the Executive Secretary of the National Board for Technical Education, Professor Idris Bugaje, dispatched a team of experts on an accreditation visit to the polytechnic along Ikere-Iju Highway. The NBTE’s delegation, led by the Director of New Institutions, Hadji Bilikisu Daku, was at the institution’s permanent site to inspect facilities for proper accreditation of some courses before kicking off proper academic activities in 2025.

The management used the veritable platform to discuss the proposed modalities of operations that will focus principally on partnerships with other institutions to imbue their graduates with skills and innovative thinking that can bring the economy out of the woods.

The delegation was regaled with promising stories about how the institution wishes to enter into Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) with polytechnics within Nigeria and in advanced nations to make their graduates innovative and call the shot under a 21st-century economy.

This was reflected in the courses the polytechnic sought accreditation for to start academic activities. They include technological-based courses in Schools of Engineering, Environmental Management, and Science.

Even those in accountancy will be made to fully comply with the curriculum of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria to make them become chartered accountants who will be proficient in establishing audit firms and become employers of labour.

The founder of the institution and a respectable ranking member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Bamisile, said his reason behind the establishment of the institution was to bolster skills among youths, promote technology-based education, boost access to scholarship, and create employment for teeming jobless youths.

Bamisile, who is the representative of Emure/Ekiti East/Gbonyin Federal Constituency added that the establishment of the institution helps in fulfilling his passion and love for the development of technical education in Ekiti State that can help in actualising skill acquisition, research and innovation that can change the system.

Bamisile said Montgomery Polytechnic is coming up with a different package that can bring out the best in its graduates. The politician said it is now a well-established fact that graduates without vocational and entrepreneurial skills, research orientation and innovative thinking cannot easily operate in the current economy. He promised that the polytechnic would be a model in correcting this longstanding economic ill.

Bamisile solicited the support of the agency as well as other good Samaritans in developing the institution. He stated that he needed the support of Nigerians to bring his vision to fruition. He added that polytechnic education is pivotal to the survival and success of the country.

“We are now seeing the reality of having graduates who are skilled and innovative. This is a fact we cannot run away from.

“I know some highly successful people from Ekiti State who are establishing their businesses in Lagos, Ibadan, Abuja, and other economically viable locations. But I preferred Ekiti for the location of this polytechnic to show my commitment and passion for the growth of education that has been our pride from time immemorial,” Bamisile stated.

He disclosed that the institution, which will begin operations soon, is provided with world-class facilities that will make it one of the most sought-after polytechnics in the country within the next five years.

Lending credence to the position canvassed by the founder, the rector of the polytechnic, Dr Francis Olowe, gave assurance that the institution would not fail nor falter in its vision to contribute to nation-building and set acceptable standards, not just any standard, but one that can stand the test of time.

The rector posited that some of the courses expected to be accredited by the NBTE are science-based, products of thorough thinking, and aligned with the economic needs of the populace, given the high unemployment rates in the country.

During the facility tour, the NBTE’s Executive Secretary, Professor Idris Bugaje, was dazzled and impressed with the quantum and standard of facilities on the ground. The academic promised that the Federal Government would not allow polytechnics operating in the country to derail from fulfilling its mandates as skills, research, and innovative platforms for Nigerian experts.

The FG’s regulatory agency, reiterated the preparedness of the agency to ensure that polytechnics churned out quality graduates with relevant skills, research orientation and innovative thinking that can reset the nation on the path of growth and development.

Inspecting the facilities, Bugaje, represented by an official of the agency, Engr. Rasak Shoremekun, said that quality assurance of Nigerian polytechnic education will boost its stature for global reckoning.

He commended the management of Montgomery Polytechnic for providing state-of-the-art facilities to earn accreditation, encouraging the management to maintain a good standard as soon as academic activities take off in the institution.

Describing polytechnic education as a vital tool for economic development, Bugaje advised the institution to place a high premium on research and skill acquisition, stating that no country can develop or make headway in innovation without adequate research, skill acquisition, and exploration.

“The Federal Government, under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Federal Ministry of Education, will continue to ensure that all our polytechnics put in place measures to achieve its focus of producing skilled and innovative graduates, who are also research-driven.

“It is our vision to ensure that every polytechnic should meet the set standards before proper accreditation and we shall pursue this with vigour and strength,” Bugaje said.

Dr Ademola Ilori, a university lecturer, writes from Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State.

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