The newly elected National President of the National Association of Polytechnic Students (NAPS), Jimoh Ibrahim, has issued a 14-day ultimatum to the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, demanding his immediate resignation over what he described as deliberate policies undermining technical and vocational education in Nigeria.

Ibrahim, in a statement, frowned at the minister’s actions against technical institutions, saying they had been against polytechnic education over the years.

He warned that polytechnic students across the country would not remain passive while the sector deteriorates.

“Any minister who does not prioritise the technological advancement of the country is not worthy of the appointment,” he added.

Ibrahim outlined a five-point agenda for his administration: students’ welfare, educational reform, institutional strengthening, capacity building, and strategic partnerships.

He said the central mandate of the new NAPS leadership is to confront the structural problems that have long plagued polytechnics, including chronic underfunding, decaying infrastructure, outdated laboratories, and poor industry linkages.

A major focus of his address was the implementation of the federal government’s technical and vocational education and training (TVET) initiative.

While commending President Bola Tinubu for placing priority on TVET as a pathway to skills and employment, Ibrahim issued a stern warning to tertiary institutions against exploiting students participating in the programme.

To every institution exploiting students under the guise of implementing TVET, this administration serves notice that such practices must stop immediately. Education interventions designed to empower students must never become avenues for exploitation,” he stated.

He threatened that NAPS would deploy all constitutional and democratic tools available to it, including mass protests and legal action, to shut down what he called extortionate practices by some institutional administrators.

The NAPS president also revisited the decade-long dichotomy between the Higher National Diploma (HND) and the Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) degree.

He described the disparity in career progression and public sector recognition as “one of the greatest injustices in our educational system.”

According to him, the association will sustain engagement with policymakers, the National Assembly, and relevant agencies until polytechnic graduates attain full parity in employment opportunities, promotions, and postgraduate admissions.

On institutional reform, Ibrahim rejected the current trend of converting polytechnics into conventional universities. Instead, he argued that the government should strengthen polytechnics and empower them to award Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) degrees, in line with global best practices, where technical institutions have degree-awarding powers.

“A country genuinely committed to technological advancement and economic prosperity does not diminish its polytechnics; it strengthens them,” he said.

He called for massive government investment in modern digital infrastructure, workshops, and equipment, as well as deeper partnerships between polytechnics and industry to ensure graduates are job-ready and research output is commercially viable.

Ibrahim said the polytechnic system remains critical to Nigeria’s industrialisation drive because it produces the middle-level technical manpower needed in manufacturing, construction, agriculture, ICT, and other sectors.

Weakening the system through conversion or neglect, he argued, would undermine national development goals.

He said the new leadership would prioritise internal cohesion, accountability, and advocacy that reflects the realities of students on campuses nationwide

He also acknowledged the role of security agencies in the democratic process, specifically commending the Department of State Services for its support in ensuring a peaceful and successful national convention that produced the new NAPS executives.