Aloysius Attah, Onitsha
Members of the Alumni Association, Federal Polytechnic, Oko, Anambra State want the Federal Government to elevate the polytechnic to a University of Science and Technology. They insist that the institution has the material and manpower needed to live up to such level.
National President of the association, Mr. Luke Nweke, made the call during the recent commissioning of the multi-million naira ultra modern secretariat built by the Alumni Association. He also called on the Federal Government to shop for the polytechnic’s rector internally instead of employing an external person.
The new secretariat complex, which has three floors, three utility halls, 17 offices, shops and modern toilets, was named after the former rector of the polytechnic, Prof. Eugene Nwadialor and was commissioned by the Chairman, Governing Council of the institution, Chief Lasbry Amadi.
The National President revealed that the association spent N60 million on the project which, he said, was partly generated internally among members and partly from a loan from financial institutions.
He sought more support from members of the public to equip and furnish the edifice and as well, liquidate about N6.5 million borrowed from financial institutions.
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He, however, commended the institution’s governing council, the Acting Rector of the polytechnic, Dr. Izuchukwu Onu, board members of the alumni association and members that contributed immensely in making the dream a reality.
In his address, the acting rector, Prof Onu expressed delight on the resolve of the alumni to give back to the institution that moulded them. He assured them of management support.
The rector described the alumni association as the oxygen of growth of their alma mater. He promised to continue to advance the cause of peace in the polytechnic even as he called on members of the alumni to reconcile any form of misunderstanding among members.
He noted that no alumni could work progressively in an institution pervaded by strife, rancour and bitterness. He described “development as a coward that doesn’t go to troubled places.”
Prof Onu noted that his administration has done a lot in improving staff welfare, especially in the areas of promotion, proper placement, migration, scholarship and restoration of academic standards in the polytechnic as a way of giving peace a chance.
“The polytechnic has attracted TETFUND projects which have been stalled for a while now, but in no distant time, we shall begin to witness chains of structures rolling out in different locations of our campuses.
“May I also use this opportunity to call on well to do individuals and corporate organisations to come to the aid of the polytechnic, which is one of the oldest East of the Niger, in the area of infrastructural developments as government alone cannot shoulder the responsibilities of building the quality of education our children require
today,” he urged.
Awards to the former rector of the polytechnic, Prof Eugene Nwadialor, member representing Orumba North in the Anambra State House of Assembly, Hon. Romanus Ugochukwu Obi and the national treasurer of the alumni association, Dr Beatrice Ezechukwu also featured at the event.
Nwadialor, who was visibly elated by the honour, poured encomium on the leadership and members of the association. He said the gesture would spur him to do more for the good of mankind.
The former rector emphasized that he absorbed over 1000 graduates as the staff of the polytechnic during his tenure as rector between 1988 and 1998 without any financial gratification, noting that he was among the early rectors of the institution that started building the citadel of learning with nothing.
He described the association’s resolve to build a secretariat as a gesture that will not be forgotten in a hurry. He affirmed that such project will attract other members who might have been indifferent to the association even as he urged them to always stand by the truth.
Chairman of the polytechnic’s Governing Council, Lasbry Amadi was represented by Mr. Edwin Chukwuma. He commended the executives of the alumni for their prudent management of the association’s resources, acknowledging that this is the first time alumni members from the institution are celebrating their own project.
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