Kwara poly rector suggests ways to check brain drain in Nigeria

The Rector of Kwara State Polytechnic, Dr. Muhammed Jimoh, has submitted that upgrading polytechnics to run degree programmes would be the only way to curb the ‘noticeable brain drain’ across all sectors in the country.

He urged the National Universities Commission (NUC) to grant polytechnics the right to run degree courses.

Speaking at the 44th edition of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Media Parliament: ‘The Conversation’ at the Press Centre on Old Offa Road in Ilorin, Jimoh lamented the existing dichotomy between polytechnic diplomas and degrees.

According to him, the world appreciates skill acquisition more than academic prowess, adding: “It is a matter of what you are empowered to do, not what paper you earned in school.”

He regretted that while the nation places premium on University Degrees, common institutions in developed countries award degrees up to PhD levels.

Consequently, he urged the universities’ governing body, NUC, to set standards for willing polytechnics to award degrees.

He recalled that Kwara Polytechnic once invited the management of NUC to the school for the inspection of its resource verification for the institution to start awarding degrees, noting: “They came, they appreciated us but denied us the right because ‘University’ was not included in our name, despite the fact that the law establishing us gave us the power to award Degrees.”

He, however, disclosed that the dichotomy has significantly affected brain drain across the nation’s sectors, as brilliant polytechnic students are not encouraged to research and present empirical findings for the ultimate push of the nation’s socioeconomic growth.

Rather than outright denial, Jimoh charged the NUC to set standards based on manpower and resource capacity for polytechnics to be able to award Degrees.

Jimoh listed the necessary resources to include laboratories, workshops, and classrooms, among others.

He pondered over the establishment of the Nomadic Commission, while the National Polytechnic Commission (NPC) to bridge the dichotomy still lingers in the National Assembly awaiting passage and assent.

According to him, only the establishment of the NPC would check the brazen dichotomy, but in the meantime, “let the NUC visit interested Polytechnics and encourage them by approving their quest to award Degrees,” he stated.