From Laide Raheem, Abeokuta

It was a unique reunion when the 1995 set of the Mass Communication students of the Moshood Abiola Polytechnic (MAPOLY), Abeokuta, recently converged on the Ogun State capital, to give back to the department.

Led by the president, Ayo Makanju, the alumni refurbished the department’s library, donated computers, furniture and literature to enrich the library.

Kicking off the two-day event, the set paid a courtesy call on the acting rector of the polytechnic, Dr. Adeoye Odedeji, in his office. 

Makanju informed the rector that the 1995 graduates of the Mass Communication Department decided to give back to the department to help the school sustain its trailblazing status in communication studies.

Responding, Dr. Odedeji, appreciated the gesture of the alumni towards the development of their alma mater. He encouraged them to do more, especially in the area of mentoring for students of the school.

While calling on other old students of the school to emulate the 1995 set of Mass Communication, the rector assured that the school management would always be willing to partner with groups, associations and individuals ready to lift MAPOLY up.

Related News

Dr. Odedeji recommended the intervention of the ’95 set to other sets, describing the refurbishment of the library as a welcome development.

At a dinner organised to cap the event, some lecturers were feted by the set. These include the former Head of Department of Mass Communication, Prof. Lai Oso,  seasoned advert teacher, Bidemi Osunbiyi, and retired editorial writing lecturer, Matthew Ogunsiji.

The award night was also graced by the Ogun State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Waheed Odusile.

Speaking on the sidelines of event, Prof. Oso hinted at the panacea to the spiralling insecurity in the country, suggesting massive investment in reformative education. Oso, who is a don at the Lagos State University (LASU), traced the initial festering of the Boko Haram and abduction of students in public schools in the country to lack of proper education.

He, however, promised, on behalf of the lecturers, that they would put resources together to improve infrastructure in the Moshood Abiola Polytechnic. 

On his part, Odusile rued the lack of commensurate interest in the number of students wanting to pursue journalism as a discipline. He hinged his observation on the paltry number of practitioners of journalism among the 1995 alumni of the institution.

“As a former national president of the NUJ before this state assignment beckoned, we took census of practising registered journalists in the country,  we were not up to 50,000. The number hovers around 40,000. This is not commensurate to the nation’s population of over 200 million people,” the commissioner stated.