By Charles Ayodele
The National President of the Nigerian Association of Technologists in Engineering (NATE), Dominic Udoatan, has expressed hope in Nigerian technology for the growth of the country.
Udoatan stated this when he led a group of technologists from the 36 States of the federation on a courtesy visit to the management of the Polytechnic, Ibadan on today.
The visit was part of the association’s activities to mark their 2023 Conference of Technologists (CONTECH) and Annual General Meeting (AGM).
Udoatan advocated the establishment of National Polytechnic Commission (NPC) to address the age-long disparity between the University and Polytechnic graduates in the Country.
He noted that the policy makers placed high premium on the University education at the detriment of other institutions blaming the development on the nation reward system.
The president likened the present situation to training the young graduates without a secure future.
He advised that the National Board for Technical Education, (NBTE) be left with the management of Technical colleges, while the proposed NPC should concentrate on the formulating policies for the Polytechnics education.
“The disparity between the University and Polytechnic graduates is taking its toll on the enrolment of students as many parents prefer to have their children registered in the former.
“Students enrolment at Polytechnics nationwide is dwindling on yearly basis due to the premium placed on the University education,”Udoatan said.
The NATE national president however berated management of Polytechnics for not doing enough as they are practicing same in terms of recruitment and promotion of staff in their various institutions.
The economy of the country supposed to be technologically driven, but with the dichotomy, it will be hard for the country to meet up with other developing nations.
He therefore suggested that, “to correct the imbalance, there is need for the setting up of National Polytechnic Commission like that of the National Universities Commission.
“I am also imploring rectors of the Polytechnic Institutions across the country to use their offices to champion the course.
Welcoming the team to his office, the Rector of the Polytechnic, Ibadan, Prof. Kareem Adebiyi, assured the association of his support in achieving the set goals.
He said, “I am a product of both University and Polytechnic education and I can tell you that the Polytechnic graduates have a lot to offer the Country.”
He commended the leadership of the association for doing a great work, saying “We are satisfied with the level of work that you are doing.
“From workshops, we have seen different designs and various machines that are available here for the Small and Medium Scale industries. It is left for the business people to take advantage of the machines.”
The Rector appreciated the association for choosing the Institute as part of the places to visit to mark their 2023 CONTECH and AGM.
“We are indeed honoured for this; our institution is largely a composition of engineers, technicians and technologists who are contributing their quota in no small way to ensuring that the mandate of the Institute is optimally achieved,” he stated.
The theme for the 2023 CONFOTECH IBADAN 2023 is: “Sustenance of Technological Code of Ethics and Engineering Standards; A key for National Development”