The Federal Polytechnic of Ekowe in Southern Ijaw local government area of Bayelsa state has called for federal and state government’s intervention over coastal erosion which has claimed ten per cent of the facilities in the premier oil and gas based tertiary institution.
The institution said though the polytechnic has the capacity to host 15,000 full-time and part-time students, the capacity is yet to be attained due to coastal erosion and failure to be connected to the national grid.
The situation has forced management to run power generating sets for 20 hours, thereby affecting productivity of staff and students.
Rector of the institution, Dr. Seiyaboh Idaho, represented by his executive assistant, Alagha Bibi-Welson, stated that the institution also suffer from security and perennial flood challenges which forced about 5,000 students of Bayelsa origin to seek admission in neighbouring Delta state Polytechnic.
He further stated that besides these challenges, the issue of staff salary shortfall which was responsible for incessant strike actions at the institution has been permanently resolved and this has boosted the morale of staff.
Mr. Bibi-Welson recounted that it took the intervention of President Muhammadu Buhari led federal government to rectify the situation which was the bane of recurring staff-management squabbles for many years.
He said the institution now enjoys stable working relationship amongst management, staff and students. The Rector disclosed that the Polytechnic now has about 4,000 students as against a total of just 40 students in 2017 when he came on board.
He said but for the COVID-19 pandemic which compelled tertiary institutions to suspend academic activities, the school had concluded plans to admit over 1,000 students in 2020, to grow the student population to over 5000.
Idah hinted that despite the appreciable achievements recorded under him, the citadel of learning is not without some challenges, including abandonment of projects, shortage of staff and accommodation, insecurity, coastal erosion and lack of access road.
On the abandonment of projects, the Rector said the ugly situation forced the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) to black list the institution sometime ago, adding that one of the major projects that remained abandoned at the Polytechnic was the Petroleum Trust Development Fund (PTDF) sponsored shore protection project.”
