When Dr Abubakar Dzukogi assumed office as Rector of Federal Polytechnic, Bida on May 22, 2015, his policy thrust was encapsulated on a 7-point agenda that would guide his quest to take the 40-year old institution to the next level.
Of prime importance to him was the need to instill discipline in the system. He was also interested in raising academic integrity and improving standards.
The new Rector was also keen on improving revenue generation, pursuing aggressive infrastructural development, paying attention to human capital development and also uplifting staff and students’ welfare.
Also in his agenda was the need for more research and community service that will make the host community feel the impact of the presence of the Polytechnic.
More than three and half years later, analysts and observers say that the Rector has achieved much and touched practically all critical sectors of the school, in spite of the very limited resources at his disposal.
Of special interest to him has been the need to improve the infrastructure of the school. Aside the physical improvement noticeable right from the main gate where the hitherto bad fence now wears a new look, former students, who last visited the school a year ago, would be surprised to see two architectural masterpieces with one serving as a lecture theatre for the School of Business Administration, while the other is a complex for the Office of Technology Management (OTM).
The projects, executed by TETFund, are the results of endless lobbies by Dzukogi, who initiated and sustained pressure on the education-supporting outfit until it saw the need to execute the projects.
According to Mr Egamana Emmanuel, Director, Physical Planning and Development, eight similar projects are currently ongoing in the school.
He listed some to include the Convocation Arena, the Entrepreneurship Centre, the Physical Planning office, a massive lecture theatre, a one-storey Academic Staff Union building, OTM departmental building, the Electrical and Chemical Engineering office complex buildings, and many hostels.
To ensure that the infrastructure is put to effective use, the Rector has deployed internally generated revenue into supplying furniture and provision of desks and chairs to lecture halls in Abuja and Lagos outlets of the institution, while laboratory equipment have been installed in various departments.
In its quest to boost the economy of the school, the Dzukogi administration has established a Micro Finance Bank in the polytechnic community, and also founded a Campus Radio to boost information dissemination.
The school has, in the past three and a half years, also acquired new classroom furniture, while more than 100 computers were supplied to the ICT Laboratory.
Other achievements include the renovation of hostel common rooms with benches and television sets provided, while a 60KVA power generator has been connected to staff offices to serve as alternative power supply.
The administration has also restored water supply to the Mechanical Engineering Complex, repaired some foundry equipment, reconstructed the main school gate, and refurbished the Senior Staff Recreation Centre.
Aside expanding local area network capacity from 160 to 450 systems, the school has also completed work on Optic Fibre Network which had ensured access to effective service to both students and staff.
It has also repaired and installed laboratory equipment in Science Laboratory Technology Department. Among such equipment are Gas Chromatography, High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS), and Vacuum Freezer dryer.
The management has also eased many activities by providing laptops to all Heads of Departments, Examination Officers, and units like Registry, Bursary and Audit, while printers, hitherto very scarce, are now available in all units and departments.
The administration has also sunk N140 million into three major capital projects – the rehabilitation of two blocks of flats at the staff quarters, the rehabilitation of some offices at the School of Preliminary Studies, and the rehabilitation of some typing pools.
Dzukogi has also achieved much in the area of discipline among staff and students.
In 2015, he had declared that he would enforce discipline because it was fundamental to success. Pursuant to that, he made it a cardinal policy to be in office at 8.00 am. This practice sent signals to the staff and students that it was not going to be business as usual. They soon keyed in and have since made it a duty to rush to their offices early and remain there till closing time.
Aside paying unscheduled visits to the offices, Dzukogi has also resuscitated the SERVICOM unit to ensure compliance with best work ethics and practices in all aspects of school activities.
It is, therefore, no wonder that all forms of corrupt behaviour by staff and students such as absenteeism, extortion, academic fraud, sexual harassment, indecent dressing, financial mismanagement and lateness to work have been reduced to the barest minimum.
The Rector has also strove to maintain, and even improve upon, the high academic standard the Polytechnic has been known for, over the years.
Aside ensuring that all grades are merited, he has also ensured that syllabi and policies, which tally with global trends of competitiveness and best practices, were followed.
Other achievements in this area include the introduction of degree programmes in affiliation with Federal University of Technology, Minna and Kwara State University, Malete-Ilorin, expansion and accreditation of new academic programmes, and introduction of Internal Quality Assurance Systems to monitor curriculum content delivery by academic staff.
Similarly, eight new academic departments have been created which increased the figure from 23 to 31, while new schools/faculties have been increased from the old four to seven.
The computation of results has also been decentralised, easing the difficulties associated with the process and enhancing speedy and error-free production.
It is also to Dzukogi’s credit that five programmes in the School of Environmental Studies have been re-accredited, while convocation ceremonies were organised in April 2016 and 2018, with the former coming eight years after the last.
With allocations from the federal purse getting leaner by the day, management has devised several mechanisms to boost the revenue profile of the institution in the last three years.
One such effort is the strengthening of the consultancy unit – Bida Poly Consult – through provision of required manpower and approval of relevant proposals which support revenue generation. The polytechnic’s collaboration and linkages efforts with donor agencies have also been strengthened.
The administration of Dzukogi has also made human capital development a priority with in-house workshops, seminars and academic presentations, facilitation of higher academic courses for staff, promotion of computer literacy and e-compliance among staff and students getting more common.
Following this aggressive interest in quality manpower, 143 staff are currently pursuing Masters degrees, while 72 are into PhD degrees programmes, both in Nigeria and abroad.
Already, 73 workers have completed their Master Degree courses within the last three years, while 43 have bagged PhD programmes.
Dzukogi has also made workers’ welfare a priority. He has ensured massive investments into promoting safety and security of students and staff, and has also made it a policy to personally visit hostels to get first hand information on students’ accommodation problems.
To his credit, as well, water is now available in the hostels, laboratories and classrooms, while electricity supply has also improved following a directive that power generators be put on for use anytime there is power outage. No one had that luxury before his arrival.
Again, before Dzukogi came in, cultism, theft and other misdemeanours were common. In addition to legal prosecution, he has made it a tradition to paste photographs of suspects at strategic spots of the polytechnic to serve as deterrent to others. So far, the strategy is yielding the desired result.
Another area Dzukogi has made a difference is the setting up of a committee on manuscripts development and the creation of a Directorate of Research and Publication. Among other benefits, this measure will help the institution to key into globalization with its research and intellectual material and projects made available to the entire world. Efforts in this area will be further consolidated by the recently completed project on the installation of wireless internet facilities to make access to internet service easy for students and staff.
But, perhaps, the most interesting achievement of the Dzukogi-led administration is the fabrication of equipment with assistance from TETFUND intervention fund.
So far, about 45 staffers have benefited from the intervention either as principal fabricators or co- fabricators, and have fabricated 28 machines inspected and ratified by TETFund. Some of the fabricated machines/projects include a modified tricycle, dry power generator, small scale moringa leaves processing plant, and a 5KVA solar power system.
Others included a binding wire production plant, a vertical spindle wood moulding plant, a nail production plant, a green block production machine, a mini hand rolling machine, and a concrete mixing machine.
Also fabricated is a tomato paste mini processing plant, African locust beans de-pulping machine, animal feeds milling plant, a gas-fired melting furnace, a palm kernel cracker, a small scale bar soap production unit, and a solar-powered mobile cold room.
Others include a Hydraulic log splinter, a multi-purpose thresher, and a horizontal shaft impact crusher.
Interestingly, the administration has directed the Fabrication Committee to come up with recommendations on how the polytechnic could earn extra revenue from the projects. That move represents a departure from the old tradition of leaving inventions to lie fallow in the workshop.
But, even while pundits say he has done so much, Dzukogi says he is just starting.
“We are just starting. We are on the right track, but we are not yet there. There is still a lot to be done. We shall continue to do our best until Federal Polytechnic, Bida becomes a model in the provision of technical education,’’ he told newsmen recently.
With such zeal and optimism, observers say that the sky will certainly not be a limit for Dzukogi. They say that it will just serve as another stepping stone for even greater achievements
