BY SAM DADA
The 21ST Convocation ceremony of Auchi Polytechnic, Auchi, Edo State which held on Saturday, December 7, 2013 will go down as one with a lot of panache.

Three major high points of the convocation was, first, breaking the jinx associated with combined convocations, second the Rector’s acknowledged successful stewardship and third, the ovation that heralded the cheering news about the commencement of degree programmes by the school.
For so long, Auchi Poly has formed the obnoxious habit of having combined convocations where two or three sets of graduands convoke at the same time.

According to stakeholders, such developments often resulted in delayed issuance of certificates. The graduands are then forced to parade the labour market in search of elusive jobs with ordinary letters of attestation many years after leaving school.
In her speech, Dr. Philipa Idogho enumerated the challenges she faced in her determined bid to reposition the school, stating that they later became the tonic which propelled her into action and, today, the school is a lot better off than she met it.

“In the past few years, Auchi Poly has attracted attention from admission applicants across the country and this is evident in the geometric increase in the number of those seeking admission into the school. Also, the school consistently maintained its premium position on the Webometrix ranking index as the second best tertiary institution in Nigeria and on the polytechnics category, the school ranked best in Nigeria and in Africa.”

She also revealed that Auchi Poly signed a memorandum of understanding, MoU with Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State on the award of degrees in 11 courses in a bid to enrich the school’s academic content and attend to growing needs.