From Felix Ikem, Nsukka
The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) has mobilised contractors to start projects at the permanent site of the newly established Federal Polytechnics Ohodo, in Igbo-Etiti Local Government Area of Enugu State.
Prof Edwin Onyeneje, the Reactor of the polytechnic, disclosed this to newsmen on Wednesday in his office, during a brief ceremony to hand over the polytechnic’s permanent site to TETFund’s contractors.
He said that the projects which include building blocks and procurements are TETFund’s 2020 take-off grant intervention projects allocated to the polytechnic, stressing that three contractors have been mobilised to commence work on the site immediately.
“Today is an interesting and historic day in the life and history of Federal Polytechnics Ohodo. This is the day that the TETFund take-off grant intervention fund projects of 2020 are taking off in this institution.
“The contractors for the various projects have just handed over the site where they will do the buildings and procurement projects as specified. I am very grateful that the project, at last, has come to take place.
“The handing over of the site to the contractors is a significant march forward because it will enhance the academic administrative requirements of the institution to meet its accreditation needs.
“It also means that students and staff, resources for teaching and learning will all be properly housed and the polytechnic is moving forward in the right direction towards meeting the requirements of the National Board for Technical Education,” he said.
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The rector while charging the contractors to ensure standard and quality work, promised that the polytechnic will provide them with the necessary support to ensure that the projects are delivered according to specifications and as scheduled.
Prof Onyeneje also added, “I appreciate in a most special way President Muhammadu Buhari who created this very polytechnic sometime last year, I also appreciate Minister of Education, Hon Adamu Adamu for making it possible that this very place comes into existence. We are grateful for the fact that we were appointed to pilot the affairs of the institution as well.”
Esther Jimo, an Architect and consultant of the polytechnic on the projects said that the projects have 6 building blocks and 5 procurements.
According to her “the six building projects are; School of Engineering block, Academic Complex blocks 1, 2 and 3, ICT and library blocks, while the procurement projects include furniture, lights, among others. The contractors have 12 months to deliver the building projects,” she said.
The consultant who is of TimeLine Consult Nigeria Limited while thanking the school management and TETFund for trusting the consultation work to the organisation assured that the projects will be monitored diligently to ensure that the contractors work in line with the specification laid down in the designs.
“We believe that through collaboration and we will achieve the project within the required duration as specified,” she said.
Mr Ikenna Samuel, one of the contractors, on behalf of the other two contractors, thanked TETFund and the school for giving them the opportunity to render their services to the institution. He assured that the project will be delivered within record time, adding that quantity and quality will be assured.
Dr Samuel Ugwuanyi, director of works and Dr Ejike Igwebuike, director of the library, were among the members of the Ohodo polytechnic management team present during the ceremony.
It would be recalled that the polytechnic was established on March 26, 2021, by the Buhari administration with a take-off grant of N2 billion.
Currently, the polytechnic is using Community Secondary School Ohodo, which was recently refurbished by the Enugu State Government as their temporal site.