Governor of Borno of State Professor Babagana Zulum has suspended the entire management of the state-owned Ramat Polytechnic in Maiduguri, for a period of six months.
The suspension came after the governor, who was a student of the Polytechnic between 1986 to 1988, unexpectedly visited the Polytechnic around 9:00 am on Tuesday and found most of the laboratories out of use, with some covered in cobwebs and rodents roaming around due to neglect.
After assessing all the infrastructure and learning conditions, he directed the state’s Commissioner of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr. Babagana Mallumbe, to take over the affairs of the school immediately.
“As far as I am concerned, this Polytechnic is dead. Nothing is working,” he said.
“The workshops are not in existence, the mechanical workshop is not working, the agricultural workshop is not working, likewise, the entrepreneurship centre is not working. The school is facing myriads of problems, ranging from lack of funding and commitment. As a former student of this polytechnic, a former rector, I have moral stakes in this polytechnic. Insha’Allah, I will not allow this polytechnic to rot during my era as Governor of Borno State. I will do everything possible within my reach to ensure functionality of this institution Insha Allah.
“I have directed the Commissioner of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation to take over the affairs for the next six months. The ministry is to ensure that all the workshops and the laboratories are put back to use as soon as possible. The entrepreneurship centre should immediately be put back to use as well. When I was at the Polytechnic as a rector, the entrepreneurship centre was producing nothing less than 10,000 to 20,000 school desks and chairs every month. We produced hospital beddings,” Zulum said.
Thereafter, he held a closed-door meeting with the management of the Polytechnic.
He also directed the Ministry of Water Resources to drill two deep aquifers boreholes and carry out a complete water channel network within the polytechnic, which is coming after prior interventions he approved for Polytechnic in 2019, to reduce problems of water supply.
After the meeting, Governor Zulum, while addressing thousands of students at the premises of the polytechnic, assured them that payment of scholarships will commence soon.
“The verification exercise has just been completed, I want to assure you that as soon as the detailed report is forwarded to me, we will pay your scholarship immediately,” he said.
The Governor was also at the Federal Secretariat, where enrollment exercises of Batch C N-Power volunteers were being conducted.
On arrival, he addressed thousands of applicants gathered for the biometric enrollment that will enable them to get monthly stipends from the Federal Government.
He assured them of the state government’s support despite N-Power being a Federal Government programme.
