By Dauda R PamMaiduguri
Governor Babagana Umara Zulum has suspended the management of Ramat Polytechnic, the state owned institution, for a period of six months due to deep decay of infrastructural facilities in most of the departments.
The GOVERNOR, tuesday, in a surprise visit to the Polytechnic, slammed the suspension on the management as he discovered that most of the laboratories have gone out of use as others have been overtaken by cobwebs and rodents.
A former student of the polytechnic in the 1980s and also former Rector between 2011 and 20115, was shocked to see workshops and laboratories no longer functioning, as the “Polytechnic is dead”.
He was in the institution to assess all infrastructures and learning conditions where he directed the State Commissioner of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr. Babagana Mallumbe, to take over the affairs of the school immediately.
“As far as I am concerned, this Polytechnic is dead. Nothing is working. The workshops are not in existence, the mechanical workshop is not working, the agricultural workshop is not working, likewise the entrepreneurship centre is not working. The school is facing myriads of problems, ranging from lack of funding and commitment. As former student of this polytechnic, a former rector, I have moral a stake in this polytechnic. Insha’Allah, I will not allow this polytechnic to rot away during my tenure as Governor of Borno State. I will do everything possible within my power to ensure functionality of this institution insha Allah.”
“I have directed the Commissioner of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation to take over the affairs for the next six months. The ministry is to ensure that all the workshops and the laboratories are put back to use as soon as possible. The entrepreneurship centre should immediately be put back to use as well. When I was at the Polytechnic as rector, the entrepreneurship centre was producing nothing less than 10,000 to 20,000 school desks and chairs every month. We produced hospital beddings” Zulum said.
Mean while, the Governor has held a closed door meeting with top management of the polytechnic where he directed the ministry of water resources to drill two deep aquifers borehole and carry out a complete water channel network within the polytechnic, which is coming after prior interventions he approved for Polytechnic in 2019, to reduce problems of water supply.
Equally Governor Zulum, while addressing thousands of students at the premises of the polytechnic, gave assurance that payment of scholarships will commence soon.
“The verification exercise have just been completed, I want to assure you that as soon as the detailed report is forwarded to me, we will pay your scholarship immediately” Zulum said.
The Governor was also at the Federal Secretariat for the enrolment exercise of batch C N-Power volunteers where on arrival, he addressed thousands of applicants for the biometric enrolment that will enable them get monthly federal government stipends. He assured them of state government’s support despite the fact that the N-Power is a federal government programme.
And personally co-ordinated the over-crowded environment in order to avoid any possibility of stampede to ensure smooth conduct of the exercise.
