Maduako Igbokwe I Sunday, Dec. 03, 2023
OKO, Anambra – President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Saturday inaugurated N550 millions Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETfund) sponsored hostels in Federal Polytechnic Oko, Anambra state.
The hostels are made of male and female hostels at the students village extension site, Oko polytechnic. Chairman, Senate Committee on Petroleum, Downstream Senator ifeanyi Ubah who represented President Bola Ahmed Tinubu said, aside support for physical infrastructure and provision of equipment at the institution, TETFund has sponsored 101 lecturers for Ph.D from the Polytechnic in both foreign and local institutions totaling N487,527,656.10.
Ubah said he was happy to represent the president and the senate president
According to him,TETFund has also sponsored 60 lecturers for Masters Degrees in both foreign and local institutions totalling N293,102,460.00, while 90 staff have been sponsored for Conference Attendance locally and abroad at a total cost of N111,471,159.50.
Ubah, a senator representing Anambra South Senatorial District of Anambra State reiterated National Assembly’s willingness to continue to work harmoniously with the Executive towards making nation’s educational institutions globally competitive for economic and technological development.
Ubah who also a member, Senate Committee on Education and TETFund , assured that the 10th Senate would continue to provide necessary support to the Fund through enactment of legislations that would further advance tertiary education in Nigeria.
“I wish to use this opportunity to assure you that the 10th Senate under the leadership of the Senate President, Distinguished Senator Godswill Akpabio and indeed, the entire National Assembly will continue to provide necessary support to the Fund through the enactment of legislations that would further advance tertiary education in Nigeria” he stated .
The lawmaker urged the Polytechnic to take full advantage of the facilities and make good use of them for the educational and vocational development of the students.
Earlier, Executive Secretary, TETfund, Arc. Sonny Echono said the projects executed between 2021 and 2023 would go a long way to stem the tide of negative influences on students youth population and address security concerns in the Polytechnic community.
Echeno who was represented by Director, Monitoring and Evaluation Department of TETfund Arc Babatunde Olajide said the projects were thoughtfully prioritised by the Polytechnic to address the aforementioned concerns as well as provide requisite infrastructure for the students wellbeing.
“In line with the “Renewed Hope” agenda of President Bola Tinubu administration, the Fund is committed to ensuring the sustenance of funding to all public beneficiary institutions with a view to ensuring our institutions attain high global ranking in delivery of academic content,” he said.
While commending the Polytechnic management and project team for ensuring quality delivery and sticking to terms, Echono appealed that the facilities be put to their proper use and be maintained to serve generations to come.
Speaking earlier,the Rector of the polytechnic Dr Mrs Franscica Nwafulugo said the hostels made up of 26 rooms have capacity to accommodate 208 students.
She also stated that the hostels are equipped with modern facilities which are tailored to give the students a decent and conducive accommodation space to achieve peak performance academically.
According to her,with new hostels many male students will have opportunity for the first time to enjoy the feeling of being accommodated in a hostel that is within the polytechnic.
“What this tells is that there is serious insufficient hostel accommodation within the Polytechnic premises” she said. She thanked Tetfund for making it possible for an increased number of students to have a safe and decent accommodation within the Polytechnic environment.
“At the entrance of these hostels which we have termed students village is a security post which was carefully planned to provide maximum security for the inmates of the hostels. The security post is courtesy of 2022 needs assessment intervention.
“Tetfund has really added value to our polytechnic in so many ways and areas. We remain indebted to the fund. I want to profusely thank the Executive Secretary of Tetfund, Arc. Sonny S.T Echono and indeed the entire staff of Tetfund for making the impact of the fund to be felt in our polytechnic”she said
