The authorities of the Kwara State Polytechnic, Ilorin (Kwarapoly), have raised the alarm over encroachment of its land by suspected land grabbers in the state.
The Rector, Dr. Abdul Mohammed, stated this in Ilorin on the sideline of the institution’s 28th convocation ceremony.
He said: “41 percent of its land areas had encroached. The polytechnic currently occupies 6 percent of its land mass, while 41 percent of the entire land mass has been infringed so it enveloped the 6 percent.
The remaining 53 percent is not accessible because the polytechnic would have to pass through the encroached portion before it can access the virgin land.”
To check the development, the rector said the management had commenced some projects on some encroachment-prone areas and virgin land areas of the polytechnic.
He said the institution is also collaborating with the state Ministry of Tertiary Education and the state government, which he said had already set up a committee on encroachment of lands belonging to state-owned schools in the state.
Dr. Mohammed also said the institution had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with three indigenous industrial companies in its collaboration to encourage students’ practical skills.
The companies are: Prototype Engineering Development Institute, Ilesha; Federal Institute of Industrial Research (FIIRO), Oshodi; and Mantrac CAT, Ikeja, Lagos.
He added that the aim was to make the students relevant professionally where they find themselves in the future on knowledge of heavy-duty equipment, marine, agriculture, and mining industries, as well as to make them employers of labor.
He also noted that eight staff got sacked over certificate racketeering, and some staff members were sacked over the presentation of a fake certificate and fake results for employment, “just as some got demoted over one offense or another.”
He also said the institution currently offers 56 programs and four new ones, namely Nutrition Science, Library Science, Mechatronics, and Food Science and Technology.
For the 28th convocation ceremony of the polytechnic, a total number of 62 students bagged distinction at the HND level, just as 56 students made the distinction at the OND level.
https://www.xtra.net/news/nigeria/kwara-polytechnic-management-raises-alarm-over-land-encroachment-by-suspected-grabbers
