The Rector, Federal Polytechnic Damaturu, Dr Usman Maijama’a Kallamu, said students’ enrolment into the institution has doubled as a result of relative peace being enjoyed in Yobe state.
Speaking in an interview with our correspondent, the Rector said the college had a student population of only 712 as at 2013 due to the activities of Boko Haram insurgents but the figured had now jumped to more than 2,300 students.
Maijama’a said that by the time he took over the institution in January 2017, many structures in the school were dilapidated but many of them have been rehabilitated with the assistance from Tertiary Education Fund (Tetfund).
“Tetfund gave us special intervention based on our request. We built and improved our laboratories, lecture halls, classrooms, offices for staff and have mounted some mighty buildings like the Engineering complex that would house not less than five departments,” he said.
The Rector, said the polytechnic ran 15 courses before he took over but he had introduced more courses and facilitated their accreditations to give applicants variety of courses to apply for.
“We introduced National Diploma in Urban and Regional Planning, Marketing, Computer Engineering, Public Administration and Agricultural Engineering. Then we also introduced HND in Civil, Mechanical and Electrical engineering and Physics and Electronics. All due process was followed and we now have 22 departments as against 15 with over 30 accredited courses in the school,” he said.
On security, Kallamu said the institution was collaborating with security agencies to ensure secured and peaceful learning atmosphere.
“Now if you look at the ratio of students in our school, you will see people from all parts of the country pursuing different academic programmes.”
He said the major challenges facing the school included insufficient funding, which had stunted his dreams for the institution.
“My dream for the institution is capital intensive. I want effective internet connectivity for conducive learning. I want students and lecturers to be learning very fast even from their beds.
“I also want to have a befitting sport complex that can comfortably host all the polytechnics in the country. So that after academic exercise, the students and lecturers would go out to participate or watch for relaxation. It’s also my ambition to discover talents and get jobs for my students through sports,” he said.
Kallamu also said in an effort to give back to its immediate community, the institution had established Entrepreneurship Center where students and youths from the community are learning empowerment skills in carpentry, blocks moulding, knitting and baking.
In his drive to generate revenue and supplement grant from the federal government, he said, a sachet water company, petrol station and a block industry were established to provide jobs and support the institution financially.
He commended the federal goverment for establishing the Northeast Development Commission, while hoping that the body would look into the plight of higher institutions that suffered from Boko Haram attacks in the past.
“In my institution, a whole School of Environmental Studies was razed down by the Boko Haram insurgents,” he said.
