Bayelsa: Federal Polytechnic seek State, FG intervention over coastal Erosion disaster …says 10 per cent facilities washed away

Authority of the Federal Polytechnic of Ekowe in Southern Ijaw Local Area of Bayelsa State has called for Federal and State Governments intervention over coastal erosion which has claimed ten per cent of the facilities in the premier oil and gas based tertiary institution in Nigeria.

According to the institution, though the Polytechnic has the capacity to host 15,000 full-time and part-time students, the capacity is yet to the attained due to the issues of coastal Erosion disaster#s and failure to be connected to the national grid, a situation that forces management to run power generating sets for 20 hours, affecting productivity of staff and students.

The Rector, Dr. Seiyaboh Idaho of the Institution, represented by his Executive Assistant, Alagha Bibi-Welson told NAIJA LIVE TV that the institution also suffers from security and perennial flood challenges which has forced about 5000 students of Bayelsa origin to seek admission in neighbouring Delta State Polytechnic.

The Rector further explained that besides these challenges the issue of staff salary shortfall which was responsible for incessant strike actions at the institution has been permanently resolved and that this has boosted the morale of staff.

Mr. Bibi-Welson, the Rector recounted that it took the intervention of the president Muhammadu Buhari led federal government to rectify the situation which was the bane of recurring staff-management squabbles for many years.

He said that the institution now enjoys stable working relationship amongst management, staff and students, the Rector disclosed that the Polytechnic now has about 4,000 students as against a total of just 40 students in 2017 when the Rector came on board.

He said that but for the COVID-19 pandemic which compelled tertiary institutions to suspend academic activities, the school had concluded plans to admit over 1,000 students in 2020 to grow the student population to over 5000.

Idah, however, hinted that despite the appreciable achievements recorded under him, the citadel of learning is not without some challenges including abandonment of projects, shortage of staff and accommodation, insecurity, coastal erosion and lack of access road.

Idah said the Polytechnic sited at Ekowe, a coastal settlement by the bank of Nun River in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa, could only be assessed by passenger boats.

On the abandonment of projects, the Rector revealed that the ugly situation forced the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) to black list the institution sometime ago, pointing out that one of the major projects that remained abandoned at the Polytechnic is the Petroleum Trust Development Fund (PTDF) sponsored shore protection project.

“There are two major projects abandoned at the institution which made TETFUND to black list us but we have got over one because this management came in and reprioritized that project and TETFUND came, inspected it and cleared us and the blacklisting was lifted and we are now enjoying every benefit from TETFUND.

“So, as we speak, we have academic scholars from here who are in different institutions in the UK who are doing PhD and Masters degree programmes. As a matter of fact, we just received a correspondence from TETFUND a few weeks ago to send in our nominations for Doctoral and post-Doctoral programme in America.

“We have moved from the blacklist by TETFund and today more than 18 lecturers are benefitting from the fund’s sponsorship in publishing their books and more are billed to benefit.

“Our target is to make the school appealing to attract more students from Bayelsa as available records show that due to the previous state of the institution, parents prefer to send their children to school in neighbouring states.

“We have made some modest efforts and completed a couple of infrastructures and buildings for six engineering courses, these projects are meant to increase the capacity of the polytechnic and they stand there to speak for us.

“For instance, we have up to 5,000 students of Bayelsa origin currently studying at Delta State Polytechnic, Ozoro and from what we have put in place, we are reversing the trend.

“We are currently collaborating with the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) to accredit us as a centre of excellence for fabrication and that will be an added advantage for the oil industry,” he said.

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