What we have done to improve the system at FedPoly, Bida — Rector

Can you tell us some of your achievements since you assumed duty as the rector, Federal Polytechnic, Bida?

When we came on board, some of the things you are seeing on ground now were not there. Now there are more schools, more departments, more programmes, and we have seen a lot of discipline. That is why we are now having problems in the polytechnic, because people were used to ‘business as usual’.

There are those who believe that the standard of this polytechnic has fallen as a result of the incessant crises on the campus in the last couple of years

That is one of the propaganda of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, Bida branch. Indeed, before I came on board, so many new students were being withdrawn from the first semester. It was a big problem here. People were no longer interested in sending their wards to the institution; but all that has changed.

A peaceful rally was held by some of your staff and a solidarity visit was paid to you recently by people who said you were responsible for their employment. How did you feel about that?

It was a surprise to me because like I said earlier, for the past five years it has not been easy in the polytechnic. We were either in one problem or the other; but gradually, people are getting to understand the real situation as regards some of the staff that are hiding and that have hijacked the institution’s staff unions, particularly ASUP and are causing a lot of problems in the institution. With patience and the additional efforts of students of the polytechnic, people are getting to understand the situation. That is why not only the 2019 employees but other older staff also participated in the solidarity visit to my office. To answer your question, I want to say I am happy that people have got to understand the type of person I am and our achievements of over the last five years despite all sorts of distractions in the polytechnic.

How was the situation in the polytechnic when you were appointed as the rector?

Before I came on board, if a child wanted to come to the Federal Polytechnic, Bida, they would advise the parents of the candidate that if you allow him or her to go to the polytechnic, the school authorities would withdraw him or her even in the first semester. When I came on board, I set up a committee and the committee toured some polytechnics and asked why it was only our own institution that so many students were being withdrawn in their first semester. Then, factors were identified and that committee gave a report to the academic board and said some students found it difficult to acclimatize immediately they got to the polytechnic. We now said, we would reduce the CGPA (cumulative grade point average) the new students needed for only first semester. For instance, if you needed CGPA of 2.5 as the case may be, we now said you would now need only 1.5 CGPA; but that was just to keep the student in the system, it doesn’t affect their final year CGPA. But when the enemies didn’t know what to say, they resorted to saying that the standard of the polytechnic had declined. With the decision that we took concerning the new intakes, the number of students being withdrawn from the institution has reduced drastically over the years since I came on board. People misinterpreted that by saying that the standard was falling and the question we asked them is: has that reduced the graduating students’ CGPA? We did what we did then in order to solve a local problem. The insinuation that the standard of the institution has fallen is just propaganda.

And there were so many other recommendations. For instance, in some institutions, they would say if you are a final year student and you fail only one course, you are allowed to go. So, the committee came with so many observations and those ones that are applicable to us we chose and the students are happier. There is nothing like the standard of the polytechnic is falling. It is not true. What we did was to improve the system.

That was not all. We introduced something like local scholarship scheme for students from poor background. We said education should be accessible to the generality of Nigerians and that we cannot on account of money deny you education. So, we set up a system for students who cannot pay their school fees, particularly if you are a returning student who cannot pay your school fees. So, our governing council said they were so happy with the development and they devoted one per cent of our allowances to this cause. These are some of the things we introduced, but people who think we are not doing our best manipulate it. Our decision to reduce the CGPA for students of the institution is only for the newly admitted students. And it was not a local decision by the rector; it was the academic board’s decision.

What is your reaction to the allegation by the staff that the management deducts some percentage from their salaries on a monthly basis?

Well, that is called shortfalls when there was insufficient fund to pay the staff of the institution due to shortfall in the allocation to the polytechnic by the Federal Government. But that problem has now been solved with the introduction of IPPIS (Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System) and we the rectors are happy with the IPPIS because it removed the issue of shortfalls. How has it removed the problem from us? Sometimes you submit the budget proposal on personnel but even with those in the National Assembly, or in the process of defending the budget proposal, the exact amount may not be approved finally. This one is not our fault. For instance, if we need salary of N120 million every month and what is finally approved is N100 million, sometimes we now said everybody would be paid 93 per cent of their salary, including the rector, but it would be reflected in your pay slip that it is 93 per cent of your salary that was paid to you. We now wrote a letter to the budget office that we experienced shortfall. In 2016, it happened; staff were paid some percentage of their salaries. But in 2017, it did not happen, and in 2018 it happened. That is what we are pursuing now. That is what we call shortfalls. It normally happens from the budget office. Sometimes we pay up to about 97 per cent staff salaries, but the remaining three per cent is reflected in the pay slips, and when the money comes, we will pay you.

How many people were employed by your administration in 2019 in the institution?

It ranges between 100 and 120 people. However, I could not employ people during my first tenure because there was mass employment in 2012 in the polytechnic before my appointment as the rector, and I did not want to employ anyone for the sake of employing people. It was only when we had these vacancies that we made a case for employment. So, the whole of 2016 to 2019, even though we initiated it in 2018, we could not employ people.

What is the legacy you intend to leave behind?

For the remaining period, we are going to consolidate on what we have been doing. If you go to some polytechnics, they have more than 10 schools. When I came on board, I met four schools and now we have eight – which is no mean achievement because my predecessors met four schools and they left four. When we came on board, I think we had about 22 departments. We now have about 32 departments. These are some of the things we have done. We have also overhauled the whole system. When we came on board, there was not much discipline in place, and by the grace of God, now, there has been tremendous improvement. Even in students’ welfare, we are not doing badly. So, my second tenure, which is going to end in 2023, by the grace of God, we will consolidate on our achievements. We are trying to have more programmes. There will be expansion; things we did not have in this school before, like a multipurpose hall. CBT Centre is coming on board in three months. These are the things that we plan to do. We will not cease doing things that will develop the school and the polytechnic will not be the same after we finish our tenure of eight years. But what we need in this school is peace. When my letter came, some people were still not happy. These are the people who already had the ambition that by February next year, they would be vying to become the rector of the polytechnic. But I only tell them that they should wait for their time because God’s time is the best.

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