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From Emmanuel Adeyemi, Lokoja
The Rector of Kogi State Polytechnic, Lokoja, Prof Saliu Usman Ogbo, has disclosed how he put an end to the frequent extortions and harassments of students by some lecturers who often forced them to buy their handouts and textbooks.
The no-nonsense Rector, who said this untoward behaviour of some of the lecturers has caused a lot of hardship to students and their parents, sometimes leading to withdrawal of students from school and causing a serious breakdown of law and order within the campus, said he had to swiftly take the bull by the horns by enacting some stringent laws.
He said immediately after his assumption into office, he identified the issue of deadly cultists’ activities and reckless extortions and harassments of students by some lecturers as some of the hydra-headed problems of the institution and therefore put a total ban on them.
Prof. Salisu Ogbo who made this revelations on Monday in his office while fielding questions during the Steward Forum organized by the Correspondents’ chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Kogi State council said for these bold moves he was severally confronted and threatened by some of the affected lecturers and heads of the deadly cult groups, but he said he remains solidly unbowed and uncowed.
“Today, those who were vehement in their nefarious activities, we have flushed them out, with some facing prosecutions, and we are proud to let you know that Kogi State Polytechnic, which used to be one of the dreaded cult infested institutions with all manners of criminalities, is now one of the peaceful tertiary institutions in Nigeria.”
Ogbo, who said he installed dozens of CCTV cameras in the campus and lecture rooms to curb exam malpractices and monitor any anti-social behaviour of students and staff, said he, however, involved the students’ body in any decision-making of the polytechnic to give them a sense of belonging.
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He said that while in office, the students successfully conducted four elections for their student union government without any interference from him or any member of staff, stating that the products of the polytechnic are now respected and sought after in the labour market due to the discipline and training they imparted.
While reeling out his achievements in office, he said the institution has successfully completed accreditation and re-accreditation of all its 47 Programmes by the National Board for Technical Education, including the backlogs of some dated as far back as 2009
Prof Ogbo said he carried out the establishment and accreditation of the School of Agricultural Technology at Itakpe with four (4) programmes; namely, Agricultural Technology, Animal Health and Production Technology, Agricultural and Bio-Environmental Technology, and Horticulture and Landscape Technology
He said he also constituted the Academic Board Central Results Verification Committee, leading to proper scrutiny of results, cost effectiveness, and reduction in time wastage at the Academic Board meetings, which he said hitherto caused delay in the release of results
The Rector also said he introduced Computer-Based Test (CBT) for the conduct of the General Studies and other examinations with large classes in the institution, which he said has curbed unethical practices and ensured prompt release of results.
“When I came on board, we introduced a new statement of result template with additional security features to curb falsification and also introduced e-Results computation and display of semester results online for students to make it easy for them to access their results.
“This and many other innovations have helped in the prompt release of results and mobilisation of our students for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Programme”, he added.
