The Governor of Kano State, Alhaji Umar Abdulahi Ganduje has called on the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government to sincerely implement the removal of the preferential treatment between holders of Bachelors Degrees and Higher National Diplomas (HND) in the service.
The Kano State Governor said the policy, if effected, remains the best way to promote technical education which the Polytechnics were purposely established to achieve.
Ganduje spoke in Ado Ekiti on Saturday during the 17th combined convocation ceremonies of the Federal Polytechnic, Ado Ekiti, where 16,786 graduands were conferred with the Ordinary National Diploma (OND) and Higher National Diploma (HND) honours.
The Kano State Governor was conferred with the Fellow of the Polytechnic among other Nigerians, including former Governor of Ebonyi State, Dr. Sam Egwu, a business mogul, Chief Bestman Anekwe and Mr. Femi Ogunleye.
Ganduje said Polytechnic Education is key to the efforts of the Federal and State governments to wipe out the scourge of unemployment in Nigeria. He said his government has totally removed the dichotomy and has taken far more reaching steps like the proper funding of the Kano owned polytechnics to be able to have veritable training grounds for those desirous of skills and vocations.
“Today, Kano State has no such barrier in the civil service. Holders of HND and Bachelors Degrees are employed on the same cadre and can rise to the Pinnacle of their careers. Apart from that, we have also declared free primary and secondary education in Kano State. It is now compulsory for parents to put all children of school age in schools and this has increased enrollments in schools”.
“Kano State is also ensuring accreditation for all the 279 courses being offered by higher institutions owned by Kano State. This is coupled with the funds being provided by government to train academic and non academic staff of those institutions abroad.”
Governor Kayode Fayemi, represented by his Deputy, Chief Bisi Egbeyemi, urged the graduands to be good ambassadors of the nation and think more of how to create jobs than being job seekers.
The Rector of the Polytechnic, Dr. Hephzibar Oladebeye, appealed to the honourees to help the institution in developing the Polytechnic and make it a force to be reckoned with globally. He urged the graduands to put to use, the skills and entrepreneurial acumen garnered in the school into use to create employments within the system.
Packaged by Emmanuel Adeniran
