• Rector vows to rid institution of corrupt staff

In a deliberate effort to rid the institution of corrupt staff, the management of Ogbonnaya Onu Polytechnic (formerly Abia State Polytechnic), Aba, Abia State has banned the sale of textbooks by lecturers as well as compulsory buying of textbooks by students.

The Rector of the Polytechnic, Dr. Christopher Okoro, made the disclosure during a pre-convocation press briefing, held at the Umungasi campus of the institution. The convocation ceremony comes up today.

Dr. Okoro informed that the ban on sale of textbooks was part of measures put in place to stop the continued exploitation and extortion of students by lecturers as was the case before he took over as Rector. He warned that anyone found contravening the order will be shown the exit door.

When asked if the ban will not negatively affect the lecturers’ output and, by extension, retard teaching and learning in the poly, Okoro said the lecturers were not, in the first place, employed as book sellers but as teachers, to impact knowledge on students.

“The lecturers were not, in the first place, employed as textbook sellers, but teachers to impact knowledge on students.”

He assured that no lecturer would suffer any deprivation as a result of the ban since the government is paying them their salaries and other allowances as and when due.

Okoro disclosed that the management under his watch has made the learning and acquisition of skills compulsory for every student of the polytechnic before graduation.

He explained that time has gone when students depend only on their certificates to fend for themselves, stressing the need for the students to learn skills that would make them become self reliant on graduation.

The rector informed of the management’s efforts at clearing the backlog of certificates and mobilising students for their National Youth Service, adding that he has signed and issued over 30,000 certificates to both National Diploma and Higher National Diploma graduates from January till date.

On the institution’s academic performance, Okoro disclosed that 17 new programmes introduced by the institution, including AI programmes, have been accredited.

Okoro said the polytechnic remains the only institution in the country presently offering AI as a course. He thanked the federal government for the various interventions in the polytechnic, especially in infrastructure, and disclosed that lectures would commence at the institution’s permanent campus at Osisioma, on January 6, 2026.

He equally thanked Governor Alex Otti for what his administration has been doing for the poly, including the construction of a 10,000 student capacity hostels (5,000 each) for both male and female students, adding that the governor of the state has approved the asphalting of the permanent site internal roads, in addition to the asphalting of the internal roads of the Umungasi campus.

The rector used the occasion to redeem the N1 million pledges made to each of the best graduates during last year’s convocation by Governor Otti.