Follow Us on Google
From Okey Sampson, Umuahia
Governor Alex Otti, at the weekend, presented a posthumous award conferred on the first civilian governor of old Abia State, late Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, by the Ogbonnaya Onu Polytechnic, Aba.
The posthumous award, Fellowship of the Ogbonnaya Onu (formerly Abia State Polytechnic), Aba, was bestowed on the late former governor of the state during the 22nd convocation ceremony of the institution.
Otti said aside being the first civilian governor of the state, it was the ingenuity of late Dr Onu that led to the establishment of the institution.
Presenting the award to Onu’s wife, Mrs. Chinyere Onu, Otti said the institution was renamed after Ogbonnaya Onu as a way of immortalising him.
Meanwhile, Otti has announced business grant of N100m to 100 graduates of Ogbonnaya Onu Polytechnic who have good business proposals.
“Beyond the business grants, I have also directed the Commissioners for Works, Housing, Power and Public Utilities, and the heads of the three regional development authourities to develop a six-month field training programme for 200 of you with proven technical competences in the operational areas of the establishments.
“The days of letting our best and brightest brains to wander off after graduation and begin to struggle in far off corners of the world without support are gone. The message to students in all our tertiary institutions is clear: do your best and we shall offer you further material leverage to find genuine success right here in Abia,”
Otti stated.
The governor promised that the institution will be made a centre of excellence within the shortest possible time in line with his new Abia mantra.
Other News
He said as part of the efforts to bring the institution at par with the best of its contemporaries in the world, his administration has began a holistic turnaround of the polytechnic’s infrastructure, including the asphalting of her internal roads, both at the Umungasi and Osisioma campuses.
“We intentionally decided to rebuild the polytechnic’s infrastructure, including the asphalting of its internal roads and the building of new hostels, especially at its Osisioma campus.
“We have equally reclaimed the institution’s land at Osisioma, which was taken over by people for different purposes and we hope to continue the expansion of the institution with the state-of-the-art facilities to make it centre of excellence in line with our new Abia mantra.”
Otti disclosed that his administration is making huge investments in education to not only give the youths of the state the best in terms of education, but, also, to set them apart in today’s highly competitive world.
He commended the management of the institution for its efforts in restoring the lost glory of the polytechnic and promised his administration’s continued support for the institution.
Rector of the polytechnic, Dr. Christopher Okoro, disclosed that in the past 14 years, the institution has had only three convocations, with two of them coming within the 22 months he has been in office.
Okoro said the institution has not only shot into national, but, also, international limelight by participating in high profile skills development programmes such as the Digital and Creative Enterprises (IDICE), initiated by the Federal Government to boost the digital technology and creative ecosystem in Nigeria.
“Another is the Innovation, Development and Effectiveness in the the Acquisition of Skills (IDEAS), which is also a Federal Government-backed skills-training/TVET reform initiative.”
Okoro commended the governor and Visitor to the polytechnic for all his support, which, he said, has made it possible for the institution to be moving to its Osisioma campus in January, 2026.
