… As Maol doles out millions in support of best-graduating students
By: Promise Dekoo The Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic, Bori, has held its long-awaited combined 25th–32nd Convocation Ceremony, marking a significant milestone after eight years without a convocation ceremony.
The event which is the first since assumption of duty by Dr. George Wadike as Rector of the school, enabled the school to clear all its backlog of convocations. Speaking at the event, the Governor of Rivers State, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, who was represented by Secretary to the State Government, Dr. Dagogo Wokoma reiterated his administration’s commitment to technical and vocational education.
“My administration remains firmly committed to technical and vocational education. In a world driven by innovation and skill, polytechnics such as this one are not the second face of education, ” he said.
The governor highlighted the important roles polytechnics play in the society saying, “They are the engine room of national development. It is the technologists, the engineer, the technician, and the enterprising manager who build our roads, power our industries, feed our nation, and create the jobs of tomorrow.
”We will therefore continue to investin infrastructure, standards, and staff welfare, so that our institutionsmay produce graduateswho are truly equal to the demand of the modern economy”, he added.
The Governing Council Chairman of the Polytechnic, Prof. Friday Sigalo in his address appreciated the Governor for his supporters to the institution which helped the school to overcome various challenges which hitherto he said were embarrassing to the Polytechnic such as the accreditation/re-accreditation of programmes.
He further highlighted some basic infrastructural needs of the school to include a befitting Administrative Block like a Senate Building, saying the current existing administrative block can no longer accommodate all branches of the Polytechnic’s Central Administration.
He also appealed for a good class, health centre for staffs and students, hostels for students as well as staff quarters for the different categories of staff.
Sigalo particularly appealed for the upgrade of the Polytechnic to a degree-awarding institution.
According to him, the Polytechnic has served the purpose of its establishment and it is now growing in the staff quality and infrastructure.
“Beside being the leading Polytechnic in the Rivers South-East Senatorial Zone, serving a large population of young people aspiring for quality and affordable education, upgrading it to a degree-awarding one would significantly enhance access to university education by our ambitious populace in the zone and beyond, ” he said.
The governing council chairman argued that such an upgrade would expand educational opportunities, enhance the institution’s academic status, and contribute to human capital development in Ogoniland and Rivers State.In his adress, Rector of Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic, Dr. George Chile Wadike said the scale of the ceremony covers eight academic sessions namely 2017/2018 to 2024/2025.
He announced that the Polytechnic is graduating a total of 21.251 students comprising 9,742 National Diploma (ND) graduates and 11.509 Higher National Diploma (HND) graduates. In addition, a total of 3,513 graduates from the Continuing Education Programme were presented.
“Consequently, the total number of graduands covered by this historic convocation stands at 24,842, comprising 11,643 National Diploma graduates and 13,208 Higher National Diploma graduates, ” he said.
He noted that the figures represent thousands of individual stories of perseverance, parental sacrifice, academic commitment and institutional effort, adding that they also demonstrate the important role which the polytechnic plays in the development of skilled manpower.
“We are conscious that every certificate issued today represents a responsibility. The reputation of this institution will, in many respects, be reflected in the professional conduct and accomplishments of our graduates, ” he assured.
He also pointed out some key achievements of the administration, saying, “Within the period of my administration, we have pursued a number of initiatives aimed at strengthening academic standards, institutional governance, infrastructure, staff welfare and student development.One of our major accomplishments has been the successful presentation of ten academic programmes that had previously lost accreditation status to the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE). I am pleased to report that all ten programmes achieved successful accreditation”.
Similarly, he said four new Higher National Diploma programmes were presented for resource verification by the NBTE and were approved for commencement in the 2026/2027 academic session, saying that the developments expand the academic opportunities available to students and demonstrate the school’s commitment to responding to emerging manpower requirements.
He said the school has taken steps towards resolving the challenges associated with the mobilization of eligible graduates for the National Youth Service Corps.
Meanwhile, KAGOTE President, Chief Lesi Maol while speaking at the event, pledged to a twenty million (N20,000,000) support for the school. He also pledged two million (N2,000,000) each for all best graduating students fr science departments with an additional One million (N1,000,000) each to all first class graduates from Ogoni extraction as a way of encouraging academic excellence.
For his part, Chairman of Khana LGA, Dr. Thomas Bariere, pledged to construct a befitting students hotel on the school campus to accommodate more students.
