By Demola Akinyemi
The Rector of the Federal Polytechnic, Offa, Kwara State, Dr. Mufutau Olatinwo, has lamented over inadequate polytechnics across the country and  urged the Federal Government to expediently create more  so that the nation could meet up with its scientific  and technological challenges both now and in the future.

Olatinwo spoke at a press conference in Offa yesterday at a pre-convocation ceremony of the polytechnic, adding that there were not enough personnel to handle students, as “many were not inclined to teaching.”

He said that the convocation ceremony was significant to the institution “in the sense that it is coming eight years after the last of such a ceremony.”

The Rector who hinted that no fewer than 35,000 certificate holders of National Diploma, ND, and Higher National Diploma, HND, of the institution from 2002 to 2009 would graduate on Saturday this week  further stressed  that Nigeria needed a vibrant technical education sector to develop, urging the government to continue to support technical and vocational education.

According to him, “It is my candid view that the polytechnic system, with the right encouragement, motivation and collaboration internally and externally, is well positioned to help the Federal Government achieve Vision 20: 2020. The Federal Government should continue to support technical and vocational education as an important route to national technological transformation”.

Continuing, he said: “As I have said in different fora, the current level of Nigeria’s technological development may not call for cheers at the moment, but I am of the opinion that there is still great hope for this country. Indeed we can still catch up and even surpass the current level of attainment of most of the “Asian Tigers” by encouraging polytechnics to play the required pivotal role.

“The small scale and the medium enterprises that form the fulcrum of technological development of any nation are powered by technical knowledge, developed through these technical institutions.”