By Tony Adibe
The Forum of Nigeria Polytechnic Alumni Association (FONPAA) has again called for more funding of Polytechnic Education while appealing to the National Assembly to make a law that would end the needless discrimination against HND certificates in comparison to university degrees.
The National President of FONPAA, Hon. Abba Anas Adamu, who bemoaned what he regarded as the “unnecessary dichotomy and disparity between universities and the Polytechnics,” as well as the colleges of education in Nigeria, demanded more funding for the polytechnics. He insisted that polytechnic education provided the foundation upon which Nigeria’s technological growth and development are built.
Adamu, who made the call when FONPAA executives paid a courtesy visit on Prof. Gozie Sunday Ogbodo, the Rector of the Institute of Management and Technology (IMT), Enugu, the institution that hosted their quarterly meeting on Monday.
He said that some countries that value polytechnic education have converted their universities to polytechnics because “polytechnic education is more of practical training in skills, while a university focuses on theory, theory.”
He said: “China, according to reports, converted over 600 universities into polytechnics not because of any other thing but because of what polytechnics can do as far as our present situation is concerned globally, and especially in Nigeria, where the rate of unemployment is so high.”
The FONPAA President recalled that, although Nigeria’s technical education dates back to 1895 – about 130 years ago, but sadly, the progress the country had made in technological growth since then “is not something to write home about.” Adamu also criticised what he regarded as unfair disbursement of funds to the university and the polytechnic as well as colleges of education in the country.
According to him, “If there’s any money for education, they give 50% to universities and 50% to polytechnics and colleges of education to share. This means polytechnics will take 25% only and colleges of education will take 25%. This is not fair.” He added that if governments at all levels fail to plan well for education, the country would hardly make any meaningful progress technologically.
He recounted that although the issue of discrimination against HND certificates has been on over the years, the federal government in 2018 announced the removal of the dichotomy, but several years after the announcement, nothing has changed.
“In 2021, there was an enabling Bill to scrap this issue of discrimination. That was from 2021 when the Bill was submitted to the National Assembly to now, 2025, is five years. But till date, that Bill has not been passed,” Adamu said pitifully.
Stressing that FONPAA was happy with Governor Peter Mbah for his achievements, especially in education sector, Adamu urged the Rector to plead with the governor to encourage the polytechnics in the state by increasing funds meant for them.
“In fact, I never heard of somebody like Governor Mbah committing so much, 33% of the state budget into education, when the UNESCO requirement is just 25%. So what Governor Mbah is doing in the education sector is wonderful,” Adamu said.
According to him, “The government should update and upgrade laboratories and workshops in polytechnics in Nigeria so that we can emulate countries where they have achieved progress through polytechnic and technical skills, so that the graduate can employ himself and others.”
The FONPAA boss noted that proper funding of polytechnic education would go a long way in solving unemployment in Nigeria as well as solve the country’s technological needs. Responding, the Rector Prof. Ogbodo, promised to support FONPAA in any way he could.
He said that since he assumed office in November 2024, the institute has made remarkable achievements which include the re-accreditation of all the programmes they offer in addition to ensuring that both students and lecturers are disciplined.
He referred particularly to dressing code which means that students come to lectures in their departmental uniforms instead of dressing outlandishly and provocatively. Ogbodo promised to address perceived decay in the institution by ensuring that they maintain high academic standards.
“Our governor every month does a new thing. What our governor is doing at the state level is what we are trying to do in IMT. We started with a new mantra to reclaim lost glory. I am determined to ensure that IMT reclaims it’s lost glory,” he pledged.
He further said: “We started enforcing attendance to lectures. We believe that in order to achieve academic disciplined, you must also attend lectures. At the same time, we started monitoring the attendance of our lecturers because if the students come, the lecturers must also come to teach them”.
Earlier, the National President, IMT Alumni Association, Dr. Agodi Kanu outlined some of the remarkable feats made by the alumni. He recalled that for over two decades, the IMT never identified with FONPAA. But he added that early this year, IMT Alumni received a correspondence from the national body “for us to be part of the Abuja conference in April.”
He said that it was during the Abuja meeting in April that he took time to inform few of his colleagues, including the national President, Adamu, on the current “transformative innovations” status of Enugu State under the Governor Mbah-led Administration, especially in the area of education.
“I mentioned particularly the Green Smart School and the governor’s support to my great school, IMT. I also talked of the support from the Rector,” Kanu said.
According to him, at the end of the Abuja conference, the national President, Rt. Hon. Adamu put the question to the gathering: ‘Where next do we go for our conference?’ To which the overwhelming answer was ‘IMT, Enugu!’ Agodi said that was how the hosting of the meeting was given to the IMT.
“We at IMT are in mutual business to support our school; to support our community and also give hope to students of the school. That’s our calling as an Alumni Association – to give and not to receive because there’s nothing to receive but there’s everything to give,” Agodi said.
Kanu further said: “We also floated an insurance scheme for our members in partnership with Universal Insurance, and that is also running. We also increased our Chapters from four to eleven at this moment within the last two years. We have also established scholarship scheme to encourage a healthy competition among students, for academic growth and provide them the support base for them to thrive.”
