The House of Representatives Committee on Polytechnics and Other Higher Technical Education has expressed shock over the situation at the Federal Polytechnic Ugep, Cross Rivers State, where the student-staff ratio is 142 to 154.
The panel, which expressed its concerns at the submission of budget performance and other activities by the Polytechnic’s rector, Professor Edward Okey, also lamented the spending of over N600 million on personnel and overhead costs despite the small number of students.
The Committee had invited Federal Polytechnics and some other technical institutions from the South-South to appear as part of its ongoing oversight function. These include Federal Polytechnic, Orogun; Federal Polytechnic, Ugep; Federal Polytechnic Oil &Gas, Bonny; Federal Polytechnic, Auchi; Federal Polytechnic, Ekowe; Federal Polytechnic Ukana; and the National Institute of Construction Technology Management, Uromi.
The Committee’s Chairman, Fuad Kayode Laguda, and members were also angered that Federal Polytechnic Ugep had spent N38 million on local travel.
In his presentation, the Rector claimed that they also spent an N2 billion take-off grant to renovate the abandoned, dilapidated structure of Ugep Community Secondary School to use as a temporary campus and put up structures on the Institute of Technology Management (ITM), which he said they eventually took over as their permanent site.
“Our school was established in 2021. When we went to Ugep in 2021, we were to start the school at a temporary site in the state Polytechnic called the Institute of Technology and Management (ITM). However, we needed help getting the state Polytechnic to start the school when we arrived.
“So, our first challenge was to identify a temporary site for the school to take off. That took us over a year because Ugep is not a town but a village. It’s a big town, but it’s a local town. Getting a school for us to start took a lot of work.
“After going around the village, we ended up with dilapidated buildings of a secondary school called Ugep Community Secondary School. The principal of that school told us that those buildings had been abandoned for 25 years. So, we have to renovate those buildings. It took us over a year to renovate those buildings before we could start.
“With our 2022 take-up, we identified a permanent site. We started different projects, about ten projects on the permanent site. Some are at varying levels of completion. Getting students and staff in Ugep has not been easy because of some stigma that Ugep carries.
“Even my Council members, the first set, refused to come to Ugep for a meeting because they fear Ugep. Because Ugep used to have a tradition of eating people. But that was hundreds of years ago.
“That doesn’t happen again. However, it isn’t easy to erase once a stigma is created. We have been working to erase that stigma; the people need the school. They need that exposure, but to attract students takes work.
“When we started, it was just last month that we were able to take over the school, which we could have started within 2021, ITM. It is in Ugep. That school was started in 2012 by former governor Liyel Imoke. And the students’ numbers are now, as I called them. The old students were 34, and the new students were 29. They have had a total number of 63 students since 2012, when they started. I just wanted to tell you about the difficulty of the place.
“When we started, we had 16 students, but this year, we have admitted 63, so we have a total of 79. So, invariably, we have performed better than the school that started 12 years ago. Now, we have a total of 132. We took over the students and staff of ITM.
“We had a take-off grant of N2 Billion. We use part of the take-off grant of N2 billion to renovate the school we started with. We used part of it to construct the School of Engineering, we also used part of it to construct the Perimeter fence, we used part of it to do a Guest House, and we used part of it to buy a Hilux, which is the only vehicle I am using now and also a Business for the school”.
However, after an observation, a member of the Committee described the institution’s spending as wasteful and unsustainable.
He said, “It is high time we tell ourselves the truth. If you have 142 students, that’s like an Elementary school. In my village, we have a primary school. There are more than 500. For that matter, a federal Polytechnic has 142 students, and your personnel is N496 million, almost N500 million, for a school with 142 students. Your overhead is N159 million for a school that has 142 students. Your Capital is N25 million. What is the justification for all this spending?”.
The chairman of the Committee, Rep. Laguda, addressed the Rectors at the end of the sitting and expressed the committee’s disappointment over the institutions’ poor presentation.
He said, “We called schools from South-South for an oversight, and none of the schools met the required requirements or did what was expected. Because you had over a week’s notification.
“But you were aware over two months ago that your turn would come. Because we’ve been doing this oversight function for a while. Out of seven schools, one is not even here today.
“What school is that again? One of the schools is away today. Out of the six schools, only three came with half-baked reports. Three others needed to prepare for us. We took our own time and left every other thing that we had to do. To ensure this day, this exercise sees the light of the day. We would like to ask you to come back.
“Every single school of yours. And when you come back, you must return with your complete team. To come and re-present your reports. See the clerk after now to give you the requirements for your budget review. In less than a week, we will recall you here to come and make this presentation”.
