National

Nigeria cannot develop without polytechnic education – Rector

Published

1 year ago

March 6, 2023

Prof. Emmanuel Fasakin, the outgoing Rector of the Federal Polytechnic, Ile Oluji, Ondo State, says that Nigeria cannot develop without polytechnic education.

Fasakin stated that if polytechnic education was scrapped the country would be doomed, pointing out that the bedrock of industrialisation was polytechnic.

The outgoing rector, who spoke on Sunday in Akure at the launching of his memoir to mark the end of a successful two-term tenure as the pioneer rector of the polytechnic, explained that it was polytechnic education that would produce manpower needed in factories.

The book is entitled: “Beyond the Ordinary: The Journey of My Life and Experience at Federal Polytechnic, Ile Oluji.”

Fasakin said that Nigeria should not rely on manpower from outside the country for its industries to survive.

According to him, abolishing polytechnic education is tantamount to suicide.

He, therefore, asked the Nigerian government to provide conducive and enabling environment for Nigerian citizens to work and thrive in their respective academic endeavours.

Fasakin noted that Nigerian scholars were leaving the shores of the country to where their potential would be harnessed and well remunerated.

On his memoir, he said that he documented the book to tell his life story so that people that wanted to be transformational leaders and pioneers of institutions could know challenges and proffer solutions to them.

Fasakin said that he had laid a good foundation in the institution in terms of infrastructure, human development through team work and provided transformational leadership.

The outgoing rector stated that the institution, which took off in 2015, was ranked among the best in Nigeria, running the Ordinary National Diploma (OND) and Higher National Diploma (HND) programmes.

Also speaking, the guest lecturer, Prof. Igbekele Ajibefun, described Fasakin as humble, hardworking and diligent.

Ajibefun, a former Vice Chancellor of the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, Ondo State, said that the outgoing rector had been able to develop the polytechnic as an institution admired by all.

According to him, through Fasakin, the institution has been put on the right path in pursuing its mission and vision.

He added that within eight years of the institution’s establishment, the polytechnic had overtaken its three other contemporaries.

“Prof. Fasakin has provided exemplary leadership, working with stakeholders to develop it to an enviable institution of today.

“It is very obvious that Fasakin has guided the core values of the institution.

“The polytechnic will rank among the best three in Nigeria in future going by the foundation laid by Fasakin,” he stated.

Ajibefun implored the nation’s leadership to give total autonomy to higher institutions for better results.

He said that bad leadership had caused grave havoc to education system in the country.

Also, Prof. Adebisi Balogun, the Chairman of the occasion said that Fasakin had made the polytechnic a beauty where teaching and learning were taking place.

Balogun asked the incoming rector to build on the good foundation laid by the pioneer rector.

Others at the occasion are were Gov. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, represented by his Chief of Staff, Chief Gbenga Ale and a former Deputy Governor of the state, Alhaji Ali Olanusi.

Headline

Job Losses, Factory Closures Loom As Unsold Goods Pile Up — MAN

Published

2 months ago

February 26, 2024

Ifunaya Emeka

AGAINST the backdrop of sustained pressure in the foreign exchange market and high cost of production, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, MAN has indicated that inventory of unsold goods is escalating to levels now threatening the existence of companies operating in the production sector of the economy with attendant job losses.

Findings show that as of the weekend the foreign exchange market had recorded over 254 per cent plunge in the value of the naira since flotation of the currency by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in June 2023.

Recall that the naira traded for N471 per dollar in the official I&E market on June 13, 2023 before the floatation of the currency, but exchanged for N1,665.50 to a dollar as at February 23, 2024 on the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), indicating a depreciation of more than 253.6 per cent over the eight-month period. The forex crisis is also stoking inflation, and coupled with high energy costs, purchasing power has continued plummet, stifling demand for goods.

Speaking on the impact of this development on the manufacturing sector, Director General, MAN, Segun Ajayi-Kadir, said: “There are reports that across the board, many warehouses and plants of many manufacturing firms are stockpiled with unsold goods manufactured last year. “The development is as a result of the devastating effects of the exchange rate crisis, inflation, fake and sub-standard goods, smuggling and other macro-economics challenges.”

National

Relocation Of CBN: There’ll Be Consequences If Tinubu Doesn’t Reverse – Ndume

Published

3 months ago

January 24, 2024

Olakunle Adeniyi

Ali Ndume represents Borno South Senatorial District and is Chief Whip in the 10th Senate

Ndume & Seun Okin

On the relocation of some agencies of the FG to Abuja and the apprehension of the Northern elite

Ndume: It’s not just about our Northern colleagues, this is a consensus because we only have one Federal Capital and that is Abuja. All these “Lagos boys_ that are thinking that Lagos is Nigeria are just misinforming or advising the President wrongly.

The Regulators of the financial institutions are supposed to be or are in Abuja. You want them to move because they say Lagos is the commercial capital. These are one of the mistakes and I am sure Mr President will reverse it because it doesn’t work. You can’t have two capitals or is the CBN Governor going to be operating from Lagos or the headquarters of the CBN is in Lagos?

Do you now say majority of our oil is extracted from the South South, you take NNPC to South South or is it because Nigeria’s agricultural base is more in the North, you take the Ministry of Agriculture to anywhere in the North. It doesn’t work that way and that is one of the problems that is cropping up but I am very sure and confident that Mr President will look at this because he is a Nationalist and not just a Lagos man. Some of these people, I repeat, some of these people think Lagos is Nigeria. Lagos is not Nigeria, Lagos is not the headquarters of Nigeria, the headquarters of Nigeria is in Abuja.

Seun Okin: …but the CBN is saying some departments are only moving to Lagos for operational purposes

Ndume: Which operational purposes? Why was the headquarters moved from Lagos to Abuja, is it not because of the same congestion?

Seun Okin: …only some units and departments are moving…

Ndume: If you are talking about proximity and space, why not you take them to Nasarawa, Kogi or Kaduna just nearby so that you can decongest the place and I even don’t see any issue of congestion, because there is just going to be cost because they will also be running from Lagos to Abuja everytime spending more money and even exposing the workers to unnecessary risks. This is a decision that is not well-thought out and I think the President will do something about it, I am confident of that. If that does not happen, of course this is democracy, we know what to do.

Seun Okin: ..and what will that be?

Ndume: That will be when the President refuses to reverse it

Seun Okin: What will be the reaction?

Ndume: The reaction right now is don’t try to bring in the case of tribalism into it. I am not a Hausa or Fulani man but I am a Northerner and I am a Nigerian first. And we say that since the headquarters of Nigeria was moved from Lagos because of congestion and inefficiency to Abuja where it is more Central and more of no man’s land because the Gwaris and Gbagyis are the only people there. We have enough space there, CBN can rent any office or even build from scratch to increase efficiency but moving some departments to Lagos is not the best of ideas at all or even moving any agency for that matter.

Seun Okin: Is there any political undertone or ulterior motive ..?

Ndume: I don’t want to believe there is, because I know the President that much, just that those political cartels that I told you, are in the corridors of power and trying to misinform the President.

The President will take action because he is a man that listens and corrects anything.

Some of them (political cartels) think they know better than everybody but they don’t know anything.

When you don’t know Nigeria, you only know Lagos then you start doing things as if Nigeria is Lagos.

Besides, they are not doing any favour to Mr President because this could have political consequences.

Seun Okin: Really?

Ndume: Yes, I am telling you this and those guys who are just sitting in their offices trying to hang onto Mr President will not be there to amend the political mistakes or even to correct it because they only know their offices and they only know that they have brains. It’s politics.. Was it not politics that brought them to that office in the first place? If Tinubu had not won the election as the President, will the CBN Governor be where he is today?

Who brought Mr President to that office? Was it votes from Lagos that brought him to that office? No way, Lagos is in Nigeria and we will not accept this wrong decision.