Renowned Federal Polytechnic Nekede Acquires 2nd Campus Amid Commendation

In another historic feat, the pace-setting Federal Polytechnic Nekede has acquired a second campus. This comes after a period of rigorous effort in this regard by the Rector and his team of Management.

Disclosing this last Thursday, the Rector of the institution, Engr. Dr. Michael Chidiebere Arimanwa, stated that the approval for the new campus had been given by the President, Muhammadu Buhari GCFR, through a letter dated 12th January, 2023.

Located at Egbema, Imo State, the second campus is a finished project with state-of-the-art facilities. It was originally built as a modern skill acquisition centre by the Ministry of Niger Affairs.

A tour on the facility last Thursday by a joint team of officials from the Ministry of Niger Delta and the polytechnic revealed that the site boasts of modern classrooms, workshops, hostels, staff quarters, auditorium and sports complex, among others.

It is expected to contribute significantly to the long-expected expansion of the institution, which has been a leading polytechnic in Nigeria. Ultimately, the new campus is expected to accommodate disciplines that are over 80% practical- oriented.

The formal hand-over ceremony of the second campus is expected to be performed by Mr President in few weeks. After this, some Schools of the institution would be moved to the new campus.The need for a second campus has been on the front burner for some time, prompting the Rector to swing to action on how to solve the problem. There are disciplines in the institution which simply require demonstration sites. For instance, all the disciplines in the School of Agricultural Technology require demonstration farms, by the standards of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE).

The first revelation on the possibility of a new campus was made last October by the Rector where he stated thus: “My administration is working hard to get a second campus for the polytechnic in view of the limited space for agricultural demonstration and other academic practical activities. The campus will be located at Ohaji/Egbema.

“Essentially, we shall site our agricultural demonstration centre, demonstration centres and skill acquisition centre there. The entrepreneurial centre is envisioned to train and certify people with low qualifications so that they would be skilled and useful to the society in the areas of brick laying, welding and so on. People coming for this type of programme do not necessarily need credit passes in English and Mathematics or other core courses.

“Already, a directorate of skill acquisition has been inaugurated and very soon we shall have students whom we are going to formally train in hands-on skills.”

The news of a second campus for the polytechnic has been described as a landmark development. A stakeholder in the institution has poured encomiums on the Rector, Engr. Dr. Michael Arimanwa and members of his Management for being creative and proactive in repositioning the polytechnic for greatness.

Another stakeholder described the Rector as a pragmatic leader who is full of ideas and innovations on how to make the polytechnic better.

There is a consensus, meanwhile, that the acquisition of a second campus by the polytechnic is of the legacies which the Arimanwa administration is bequeathing to an institution which the Rector has many times described as “my noble almamater”.

In a recent chat with the press, the Rector had further described his journey at the polytechnic thus: “Federal Polytechnic Nekede did not become the best performing polytechnic by chance. A large percentage of my life has been spent here. I schooled here as I obtained both my ND and HND certificates here. I went to the university to acquire further qualifications after which I came back to work here as a staff and now as chief executive. I started schooling here in 1982; that is to tell you how long I have been here.”

Already, preparations for the hand-over ceremony have begun. The Management has constituted a committee for the purpose. It is another date with history for the Rector who has particularly been consistent in making the institution visible through innovative ideas and infrastructural revolution.

© FEDPONEK GAZETTE 18 FEBRUARY, 2023.