Kogi State Polytechnic and Four Years of Isa Mohammed as Rector

When the former Rector of Kogi State Polytechnic, Professor M. I. Ajibero, gave an indication of the completion of his tenure in office, agitations and politics of who was to succeed him began. Some desired and clamoured for an Internally Generated Rector (IGR), they presented an assertion that someone from within the system is better positioned to tackle the challenges confronting the institution, as he would have a firsthand knowledge of the so called problems, as well as for continuity of plans for development and progress. An outsider may require a length of time to settle in and to acquaint himself with the running and challenges on ground. But in truth, the un-spoken point was that an IGR will open up the opportunity for them to become the Rector someday.

However, those that were opposed to such proposition argued that, a new person especially one that is well travelled, having lots of experiences on modern functionality of institutions will be better equipped as he will bring with him influx of new and up to date ideas. He may not require assistance to do his private ICT businesses, unlike those around that cannot punch one key of their personal lap tops. Their ideas are obsolete and out dated, only knowledgeable and vast in assessing routes of siphoning generated revenues without traces, tidying up all loose ends. They concluded with the declaration that an IGR is a part of the problems bedeviling the polytechnic.

Now, away from the politics and agitations for succession, undertaking a critical review of the four years  Mr Isa Mohammed have spent in office as the Rector. The man Isa Mohammed simply called I. Muha by his students is viewed as a teacher per excellence, it was said of him that he teaches his students well in spite of his personality and Public Relation(PR) negatives which everyone knew, he is aware himself. “They say I shout at people” a statement credited to him. The fact is that he is not in any shade of an amiable fellow or a gentleman. Maybe he is nice, can’t say.

The focus is not his person but on his administrative capacity and accountability as the head of an institution. For clarity purpose, the allegations are itemized.

Item 1:  Integrity Case: From the grapevine, it said that the Rector of Kogi State Polytechnic has been awarded a Doctor of letter (PhD) which some people tagged as PhD by proxy from the Kogi State University Anyigba, a degree which he has no intellectual input in its thesis. He was said to have delegated the entire academic research of his thesis to a staff member by virtue of being the Rector.The question of him been an authority in his field awaits answer.Little wonder when it was gathered that he (Rector) secretly pleaded with examination misconduct (E. M) committee to exonerate two students allegedly involved in two separate examination irregularities. One a female student believed to be his girlfriend with a case of impersonation.

Item 2:  Administrative Incompetence: Kogi State Polytechnic was an institution in ascendancy after years of under-development when the erstwhile Rector handed over baton of leadership to the incumbent but ever since, it has been suffering a relapse into the dark old days again. If the current trend is not stemmed, KSP may just revert back to less than a glorified secondary school status as maybe the position right now.

A visit to the main campus in Lokoja will better tell the story, where nothing seems to be working well. Staff and students are not motivated to put in their best for an effective functional system. It is not advisable to be on campus at night as the entire place would be engulfed in pitch darkness, how then can one blame criminal activities and other vices on a grossly under staffed and ill equipped security personnel. Lighting are not available, sometimes for weeks or months of power outage from the public supply.

The electricity plants are at this time not maintained or fuelled because students are not on campus.The electrical wiring in the class rooms, laboratories, studios, offices and workshops, including hostels (currently under renovation) are in a state of disrepair for years. Even the office of the Rector which is under his nostrils is not spared of neglect, the board room within the building once had a semblance of nice outlook, the air conditioners were always on to cool the entire boardroom irrespective of the number of persons present for meetings; academic, management and even the exalted governing council meetings, where members have now resorted to hand fanning with whatever is adaptable for such purpose.

The physical condition of the boardroom is appalling and really embarrassing. No air conditioner have been maintained or replaced since the rector have been in office, the big electric plant to power the building has been grounded for years. It would have been a huge surprise if the council had recommended another term in office for such an administrator. The same attitude of lack of attention plagues all facilities in all the campuses: Seats in lecture rooms not maintained or replaced as at when due, belated or inadequate supply of instructional materials and teaching aids; imagine a supply of white board once in his four years in office,limited supply of stationery materials, pens, markers e.t .c.

The works department are quite rich in grounded vehicles including the ‘make do’ ambulance that is supposed to be on standby for emergencies. Issue of safety and security on campus is another one which is not getting attention at all. The security unit is not funded, not even resources to request assistance from state security apparatus that are equally not motivated to act on matters concerning the polytechnic. There were three functional ICT service providing centres within Lokoja campus and at least one in the other two campuses. Even though they were not fully primed for wireless service, staff and students could use the internet to varying degree but unfortunately none is functional as a result of fund. How can academic staff and students’ research without ICT?

Item 3: Financial Accountability/Probity: These are levies on students for which services are poor or not provided. (a) All science oriented students as well as those of Arts and Industrial Design (AID), pays additional levies of not less than ten thousand naira each at both National Diploma (ND) and Higher National Diploma (HND)for practical purposes, assessing money for consumables to undertake the practical is usually difficult and amount approved are always too little or meagre to carryout effective teaching. (b) The hostel under renovation by the state government was not maintained with the revenue it was generating. Imagine the hardship students have been going through because of one person’s greed.( c) There is also sports fees paid by all students, yet the sports unit is not funded to provide sporting equipment/facility for the benefit of students and staff alike. Requisitions that get to the Rector’s desk always get stone faced reception and the usual roaring question, “where do you want me to get money?” Where then is the monthly allocation for fuelling and maintaining the many un-used cars in the Rector’s lodge and the many inflated travel claims of which journeys are not actually made.

All the claims above and more are verifiable without any forensic investigative techniques. Based on the above expositions, it will be ill-advice and counterproductive on the part of government to renew his tenure for another four years if government really mean well for the institution.