There is illegality brewing in Kaduna polytechnic after the governing council approved the tenure extension of the acting rector, Dr. Suleiman Umar, by another six months, in total breach of the polytechnic Act. The six months’ illegal tenure extension came even after the former rector of the polytechnic now executive secretary of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Professor Idris Bugaje, verbally advised the acting rector not to be part of such illegality.
After all, entreaties have fallen on deaf ears, the executive secretary of NBTE had to write a petition to the Minister of Education, drawing his attention to the illegality and citing Auchi and Mubi as two polytechnics where the provision of six months period of acting rector has fully complied despite the challenges in the institutions.
The acting rector should not hide under the cover of illegality to attack those who tell him the plain truth. His attacks on Professor Idris Bugaje, who brought him to the limelight from ordinary lecturers, amounts to treachery and ingratitude. The acting rector is a living testimony of how Bugaje transformed Kaduna polytechnic. During his stint in Kaduna polytechnic, there was accountability and transparency in the management of the institution’s resources. To his credit, the institution had never experienced strike but enjoyed industrial harmony.
Malam Musa D. Dauda, chairman, Concerned Kaduna Polytechnic Community writes from Kaduna
