Ondo moves to upgrade RUGIPO to varsity status

Ondo State government has concluded plans to upgrade the state-owned Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo (RUGIPO), to a university.

Already, a seven-member committee has been set up to look into the modalities for the upgrade.

The state government said the move was in line with the Federal Government’s directive that all polytechnics should either be converted to universities or be affiliated with existing ones.

Briefing newsmen on the development, the Commissioner for Education, Femi Agagu, said the polytechnic would be upgraded to University of Management Sciences and Technology.

Agagu said the committee would be chaired by Prof Michael Favorite, while Gani Ogundahunsi will serve as Secretary.

Other members of the committee are Jimoh Ibrahim, Dr. Olawunmi Ilawole and Prof Christy Ijagbemi.

Meanwhile, the first set of Engineers who graduated from Achievers University, Owo, has been inducted into the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE).

The Dean of the College, Prof. Sesan Ayodeji, enjoined the 27 inductees to use the knowledge gained for the advancement of the engineering field in the country.

He urged the graduands to continue to develop broad understanding of their responsibilities in the engineering field and see themselves more as potential ambassadors.

“All our programmes are designed to provide in-depth knowledge in all areas of engineering and at the end of the programme, students would have covered all aspect of their discipline,” Ayodeji said.

In his lecture titled: ‘Engineering and climate change” Prof. Ijagbemi of the Centre for Gender Issues in Science and Technology, Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA) said climate change is a contemporary issue, hence, graduands must play their part in tackling the challenges associated with climate change.

The vice chancellor, Prof. Samuel Aje, said the inductees have been groomed for excellence in heir chosen fields.