Please let them know that POLYTECHNIC above ND is a waste of time.

Hnd-holder:

Please let them know that POLYTECHNIC above ND is a waste of time.

It's really a waste of time when it comes to using that certificate to get a job and job progression; but not a waste when it comes to the skills and knowledge acquired.

But nobody in Nigeria need the HND skills

http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/education/article01

NIEPA holds workshop for polytechnic registrars
By Rotimi Lawrence Oyekanmi
FOR Nigeria to attain accelerated technological development, polytechnics across the country must function effectively, according to Prof. Taiwo Ajayi, the chief executive officer of the National Institute for Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA).
Speaking at the sixth yearly National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) Registrars' Workshop, held between July 25 and 27 at the institute, Ajayi stated that it would be quicker for the country to achieve scientific development if the supply of technicians and technologists needed for this purpose were commensurate to its critical needs in that area.
He, however, insisted that the polytechnics must necessarily be effectively managed and appropriately structured to have the expected capacity to enable the country to be among the 20 largest economies in the world by 2020.
Ajayi also told the participants, comprising of registrars of federal and state polytechnics that for polytechnics to be effectively managed, the workforce must be well trained and motivated.
He told the participants that although the higher education level had, in recent time, gone through frequent destabilisation, made worse by a demoralised workforce and vices like cultism, examination malpractice and poor facilities, hope should not be lost.
His words, "it becomes necessary to remind ourselves that the Nigerian higher educational sub-system, of which polytechnics are part, is known more for frequent destabilisation and the production of poor quality graduates. There are some institutional constraints which impose severe limitations on individual and organisational capacity for policy making, planning and management of the educational system as a whole, which in turn limits its (organisation's) efficiency, effectiveness, productivity and accountability.
"The case of polytechnic education is quite peculiar, considering its capital intensive nature at a time like this, when available fiscal resources are shared among several competing needs. In this era of technological advancement, if polytechnics function effectively and efficiently, it will help to solve the problem of inadequate supply of technicians and technologists who will drive our industries."
Ajayi assured the participants that in its determination to enhance quality education at all levels through capacity building of sector planners and managers, NIEPA has established a close collaboration with UNESCO, UNICEF, DFID and other international development partners in the country.
However, the Executive Secretary of the NBTE, Dr. Nuru Yakubu reminded the registrars that the rectors in their respective polytechnics remained the bosses, while they, as the head of the administration, "are the chief advisers on all matters concerning staff and students."
Speaking through his deputy, Mr. Tunde Adegboro, Yakubu urged the registrars to co-operate with their rectors to ensure effectiveness and efficiency in the polytechnics.
"As you are aware," he noted, "polytechnics have witnessed fundamental changes and reforms in the past few years. We have taken the challenges and have already started to reap the benefits of some of the potential measures. Now that our image has been put to test, we must not fail in our collective responsibility and determination to improve our polytechnic image and improve service delivery.
The theme of the workshop was Basic Reforms and Management Techniques in Higher Education. It focused, among others on the concepts of the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS) and the place of polytechnic education in its implementation, polytechnic education and the millennium development goals, modern techniques of managing students and staff in polytechnics and leadership and management techniques in the administration of polytechnic education.
NIEPA was conceived by the Federal Ministry of Education, in collaboration with the International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP), an arm of UNESCO based in Paris, France, as a sub-regional staff college. Its main operational mandate is to develop a critical mass of education sector planners and managers, for effective and efficient planning and management of the educational system.
Established in 1992, the institute is located in Ondo State with a small bureaucracy. Its faculty comprises of Ayayi, a professor of Educational Planning, eight doctorate degree holders who also majored in Educational Planning with the exception of one who specialises in Population Education. The institute also has a team of regular consultants, comprising of three professors, five doctorate degrees holders and three other resource persons.
The seven major objectives of the Institute include the provision of specialised and relevant planning skills for Nigerians, the provision of education management and development activities like consultancy services, research and development, continuing professional development of practitioners through planning and implementing training programmes directed at equipping and enhancing the competence of services to educational planning and administration and the organisation and management of programmes of consultancy services to the educational system.
Others are the development of relevant programmes for the improvement of the national and international educational system, the projection and forecast of future trends in educational management and practices, the monitoring and review of regional and world trends in educational management and planning practices and serving as a resource centre and network of information in educational planning in Nigeria.
The institute, under Ajayi's leadership, has recorded a lot of successes in the past five years. It has, for instance, trained Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) state advisers, their managers and co-ordinators. It has developed six manuals for the training of head teachers of child-friendly schools, and organised training workshops for principals and education managers in junior secondary schools in Ondo State.
It has also, in collaboration with UNICEF, organised a workshop to develop draft handbook, advocacy leaflets and posters for promoting child friendliness in the country's primary schools.
The strategic nature of the institute has been generating comments by stakeholders over the decision by the Federal Ministry of Education to merge it with the National Teachers Institute (NTI) and the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NREDC).
Former Education Minister, Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili had, as part of her reform programmes to make the various parastatals under the ministry more efficient, pruned the 21 parastatals to six groups.
The institute was one of those merged, but while some stakeholders lauded Ezekwesili's action, others criticised it. While a school of thought agreed with the former minister's submission that the parastatals were indeed unwieldy, others, like two former Ministers of Education, Prof. Babatunde Fafunwa and Mrs. Chinwe Obaji disagreed with the idea.
Fafunwa, under whose tenure most of the parastatals were established, advised Ezekwesili to first study the significance of each parastatal critically before merging them.
It was in the same spirit that some stakeholders argued that since the concept that led to the establishment of NIEPA was introduced by the Paris-based IIEP and is now a regional institute, it would do better as a separate entity due to the "enormous responsibilities it was established to discharge."

Oby Ezekwesili: A Troubled Reform
By Efe Ebelo,Reporter, Lagos

She made her mark as head of the Due Process Unit in the presidency. While there, she ensured that all contracts passed through her department and she along with members of her team made inputs that saved the nation large sums of money. That earned her the nickname, "madam due process". Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili, the Minister of Education, is seen as progenitor of the oft-reiterated return-to-discipline philosophy of the President Olusegun Obasanjo government. She was moved to the solid minerals ministry as minister during a cabinet reshuffle, from where she was appointed education minister.Ezekwesili quickly got down to brass tacks and moved to reform the troubled education sector. She declared that her goal was to ensure that schools were actually centres for training leaders of tomorrow, which they were built to be, instead of the sorry state they found themselves due to mismanagement over the years. Part of Ezekwesili’s reform was the decision to ban polytechnics from awarding the Higher National Diploma (HND) certificates. That policy finally came into effect on March 14 following its ratification by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) after the adoption of recommendations by the Presidential Committee on the Consolidation of all Federal Colleges of Education and Polytechnics.With the decision, polytechnics will no longer admit students for HND programmes. However, the current set of HND students will be allowed to complete their programmes.Under the new dispensation, students in the consolidated polytechnics will graduate with Bachelors of Technology Degree (B/Tech). Notwithstanding the policy shift, Ezekwesili assured, government will continue to recognise HNDs."There will be no more award of HND. After we have exhausted the current students under the programme, there will be no more award of HND. This means that there will be no more fresh admission for HND programmes. In addition, any programme that is not technical will be out of the polytechnics. About 70 per cent of polytechnic graduates are in the non-technical courses. It is going to be a rigorous implementation programme," she said."The HND will remain a legal tender in Nigeria and holders of such certificates will continue to be recognised as the equivalent of first degree holders without discriminatory remunerations and limit to progression in the work place." She said the National Certificate in Education (NCE) will be retained as the minimum teaching qualification at the basic level of education adding, " we would also note that education being on the concurrent list, states may consolidate their tertiary institutions, but if they do not wish to follow the federal examples, their programmes will continue to be regulated by the relevant agencies of the federal ministry of education."She said that private colleges of education and polytechnics would continue to be licensed for the award of NCE and Ordinary National Diploma (OND) certificates, respectively. "Any higher qualification by these private or state owned institutions will only be in affiliation with a university. Existing state and private polytechnics will only award the OND, but they can only award B/Tech if they affiliate to proximate universities."Ezekwesili explained that the changes were necessitated by the fact that polytechnics were not producing adequate technical manpower for the country, which is the main objective for their establishment.However, while some people feel the minister has achieved an impressive feat by "bridging the gap between polytechnic graduates and their university counterparts, a feat that successive ministers had been unable to achieve," as Akin Oladele, a banker, put it, many believe she has introduced a controversial reform that would deny Nigeria the benefits of institutional specialisation in production of low, middle, and high level technical manpower.Born on April 28, 1963 in Anambra State, Ezekwesili was educated at University of Nigeria, Nsukka and University of Lagos, all in Nigeria, and Harvard University, United States of America. She became special assistant to the president in 1999 and Head, Budget Monitoring and Price Intelligence Unit in 2005 from where she was made Minister of Solid Minerals and Minister of Education.The latest reform is one in a series of alterations that have been instigated by Ezekwesili since 1999. In those changes, the minister seem to often meet with some disagreement with her projected policy beneficiaries. In the current reform, the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) says rather than affiliation of polytechnics to universities, conversion of the polytechnics to universities of technology would have served the institutions better. Ezekwesili, apparently, feels otherwise. For now, Nigerians can only wait to see how far her latest experiment would go.

Agenda for new education minister
By GABRIEL DIKE Daily Sun
Tuesday, August 07, 2007

As the new Minister of Education, Dr Igwe Aja-Nwachukwu, settles down to business of managing the sector, stakeholders have welcomed his appointment while also setting agenda for him and the two ministers of state for Education on how to tackle the numerous problems facing the sector.

The stakeholders told Daily Sun, in separate interviews, of their expectations from the three ministers and pointed out areas they would want them to concentrate such as adequate funding, provision of facilities, better welfare package, implementation of policies, tackling of the rot, and meeting the demands of the various unions in the education sector.

Professor Ademola Onifade of Faculty of Education, Lagos State University (LASU), welcomed the new minister to his assignment but stressed that without any doubt the task ahead of him is daunting and he should focus on the three tiers of education.

On primary education, he told Daily Sun that Dr Aja-Nwachukwu “must expend much energy at this level being the foundation. Once the foundation is well laid, all other levels will fall neatly into place. Much money needs to be pumped into this level to improve infrastructure, provide teaching materials and motivate teachers through adequate welfare package. The state’s SUBEB boards should be chaired by persons with academic and professional background to improve the standard of primary education since the position is an executive one.”

According to him, like the primary school level, funds must be injected into the secondary education sub-sector, adding that the country could still maintain the Junior and Senior Secondary tiers, stressing: “The advanced level programme should be re-introduced. Apart from ensuring the academic maturity of the students before entering the university, it will also provide an alternative route for students who do not pass UME. They will not need to roam the streets any more.”

For the tertiary level, Professor Onifade reminded the education minister that university education in Nigeria needs special and huge funding while acknowledging that the system was almost grounded because of obsolete infrastructure, brain-drain, inadequate facilities and equipment.

His words: “The new minister must be aggressive and determined to stop the wastages in education. A lot of funds that should hitherto be used in improving education in Nigeria go into private pockets.”

In his own contribution, the National President of Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Polytechnics (SSANIP), Alhaji Ganiyu Akinleye, told Daily Sun that the minister should call for new education summit, not education jamboree for the purpose of coming up with a proper education reform radically different from the one organized by the former Minister of Education, Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili.

He said the summit should be organized at the different tertiary levels of university, polytechnic and college of education as well as the secondary and primary levels while a committee should be empowered to study the communiqué, synthesize them to come up with a blue-print for education policy for the country.

Akinleye stated that government should not be in a hurry to merge polytechnics and converting them to “campuses of proximate universities”, rather the National Assembly should pass the appropriate law converting the two old polytechnics into universities.

The SSANIP president said the report of the Presidential Technical Committee for the Consolidation of Federal Tertiary Institutions should be revisited with a view to taking a position that would recognize the relevance of National Diploma Certificate in the scheme of things in the country as it relates to the technological development and middle level manpower requirement and need of the country.

The proprietor of Grace International College, Ibadan, Mr. Lucas Adekunle, told Daily Sun on phone that the education minister must, as a matter of urgency, summon a summit of stakeholders which should include private school operators to address the various problems facing the sector and that the recommendations would enable him to formulate a policy that would revamp the education sector to produce better result.

Adekunle called on the minister to carry along private school owners when introducing new policy, check the rot in public schools, provide good welfare for teachers, put an end to strikes in the sector and revisit the education reform of the past minister, which generated controversy from some stakeholders.

The Yaba College of Technology Students Union President, Comrade Adesanya Yusuf Tunde, asked the new minister to note that education lays the foundation for the development of manpower in Nigeria and should be well managed to boost the sector, which, he said, was in distress.

“The new education minister needs to focus on three key things which are human resources, financial resources and strategic resources. Dr Aja-Nwachukwu should pay attention to funds released for educational purposes to ensure their usage. The sector is suffering from lack of new initiatives to boost education, he should ensure proper planning of policies before its implementation and should convoke an education forum made up of stakeholders to tackle issues affecting education in the country,” he stressed.

On conversion of YABATECH to a university status, he explained that students and other stakeholders of the institution expect the new minister to actualize the transformation through the enactment of the necessary law, adding that Dr Aja-Nwachukwu should ensure the implementation affects the current students.

Also speaking, the President of Junior Chamber International Nigeria, YABATECH chapter, JC Ligali Ibraheem Oluwatosin, stressed that the president did not consider the interest of stakeholders before the appointment of the education minister and that Dr Aja-Nwachukwu should pay attention to primary, secondary and tertiary education. He said the minister has to know the needs of the people to ensure quality service delivery.

Oluwatosin said: “One of the things I want him to do is to look at the needs of the institutions in the country because the schools lack the necessary facilities to impart knowledge to students. He should set up a committee to visit these institutions to assess their needs before implementations.”

The President of the West African Bar Association, Mr. Femi Falana, told Daily Sun that the new minister must ensure that the nation’s schools function and they must be well funded. The government must equip conditions of service of lecturers/teachers. The minister should ensure institutions get modern books. Nigeria has enough money to revamp education and ensure quality service delivery,” the human rights activist stressed.

A parent with three kids in public institutions, Mr. Matthew Nnaji, told Daily Sun that Dr Aja-Nwachukwu should revamp the public education which, he said, is in shambles and must carry parents along when churning out policies as well as check the incessant strikes in public schools by meeting the needs of the lecturers.

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), LASU chapter chairman, Mr.Aloy Ihuah, told Daily Sun that Dr. Aja-Nwachukwu should not recognise or implement the policy of the past administration on education particularly the reform programme which he described as anti-people meant to degrade the masses and give education to the rich, stressing that under the Obasanjo government education was not for the poor.

He enjoined the new minister to take a second look at the previous administration’s claim on secondary education (Unity Schools) being defective and the rushed reform programme to hand over the Federal Government colleges to rich individuals.

According to him, the minister must ensure adequate funding of the system to attract foreign lecturers as it obtains in the 70s and eary 80s, ensure Nigerian universities are rated among the best in the world by strengthening the teaching, reseach capacity and international recognition as well as use his good offices to ensure the sacked University of Ilorin lecturers were reinstated.

Hi,

West Coast University is offering admission for prospective students into professional courses.
You can check for more information on the school’s website at: www.westcoastuniversitynigeria-edu.org

All the best.

Oasis231

HND is a Mahala. Do not go for more problems oh with doubtful Universities

Nigerians shurn the polytechnics. as POLY JAMB RECORDED LOWER TURN OUT


WWW.THISDAYONLINE.COM
A total of 167,917 candiddates sat for this year's   entrance  examination into polytechnics, monotechnics and colleges of education (MPCE) on Saturday, August 4, 2007.
The examination, popularly called "PolyJAMB," was held  simuteneously in  552 centres  in 96 towns across the country .
.
Registrar and Chief Executive of JAMB, Professor Dibu Ojerinde, said  at a media  briefing   in Abuja,  that numbers of candidates for this year's examination  has  declined  by 6,152 (3.7 per cent), compared to last year where about 174, 069 applied for available spaces in the nation's Polytechnics, Monotechnics and Colleges of Education.
Ojerinde attributed  the decline to recent government policies, making Nigerians to shurn  the polytechnics.

  because of the discrimination against their products in the labour market, the polytechincs now seem to  be more interested in admitting  candidates into degree courses rather than into Higher National Deploma (HND).
He regretted that inspite of government's emphasis on technical  education, Nigerian youths were systematically shunning the institutions, judging from the pattern of application for higher education programmes, adding that  such a trend  would on the long run impact negatively on the nation's quest for middle level manpower and technological development.
.

@HND-holder
Would you have bought the poly JAMB form for you child?? No body wants to send his/her child to the polytechnic. Even those that would have done well as crafts/vocational men end up getting Degrees they know nothing about.

What does the president want to do about Technical/Technological education in Nigeria?? Since so many people have been shouting that Technology is the bedrock of development, what is he going to do about it?? is he going to give preference to polytechnics against universities?? abi all na just lip service??

Lip services I say, Let us all keep our fingers cross

Hnd-holder:

Lip services I say, Let us all keep our fingers cross

Lip service is very bad. Thats why Nigeria will still be importing toothpick.

Even pure water

[b][b]

una go just give ur humble head a big haedache, if u guys like to 4rm now till jesus come, nothing go happen, ! Nigeria is leaving with the principle of the Animal farm, where all Animals seem to be Equal, but some Animal are more Equal than others,
Plz let just Allow those we get mouth talk, because mi o lenu ooooO!
I ll keep wacthing, my own be say i wait to see their final decision on this Hnd to Degree or poly to becoming university,
well lets just hope the Bigger Animal wey get mouth do something nice,
because having read from the top page from now, u see that every body they claim office and oga, no reasonable conclusion yet,,, so why are we getting our self bored.
well if you think say you get mouth and enu, ? go ahead debating, lol,
thanx.[color=#000099][/color]

There is apathied in Nigeria, especially in the labour market and educational sector.

true talk, only God can help,for the government itself is confused or dont u think so

hamabra:

true talk, only God can help,for the government itself is confused or don't u think so

Yes; they are even more confused than you may be thinking. Bunch of confusionists!! what do you expect??

FG Suspends Education Reforms
From Onwuka Nzeshi in Abuja, 08.29.2007
www.thisdayonline.com
The Federal Government yesterday suspended the series of reforms initiated in the education sector during the Obasanjo administration, saying some of the policies were formulated and implemented without due recourse to existing laws.
First to be knocked down was the consolidation of tertiary educational institutions in which the last administration sought to merge the polytechnics with the universities.
This would mean the phasing out of National Diplomas and Higher National Diplomas, to be replaced by Bachelor’s degrees.
The Federal Scholarship Board which was excised from the Federal Ministry of Education and merged with the Education Trust Fund (ETF) during the tenure of Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili as Minister of Education would from next week return to its original place.
An expanded stakeholders’ summit of all relevant agencies, interest groups and institutions in the sector would soon be convened to brainstorm on the way forward for educational development in Nigeria.
These major policy shifts came even as the Federal Government cautioned the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the Federal Government negotiating team against entering into any agreement that would not be in the best interest of the generality of the citizenry and the nation.
Minister of Education, Dr. Igwe Aja-Nwachuku, announced the changes in Abuja during his first official visit to the National Universities Commission (NUC) and the Educational Trust Fund (ETF).
Aja-Nwachuku, who was accompanied on the visit by the Ministers of State Dr. Jerry Agada and Hajia Aisha Duku, disclosed that the policy reversals had become necessary because the Yar Adua administration believes in the rule of law, adding that even if the reforms initiated by the last administration were to be adopted wholesale, the legal framework including enabling laws would have to be amended.
The Minister said while the current team in charge at the Federal Ministry of Education was not out to destabilise the education sector, it was committed to doing the right things transparently and with wide consultation with all relevant stakeholders.
"We shall be unfolding our plans as we visit relevant parastatals. Information available to us shows that we need to do further consultations on the policies bearing in mind that they were some existing Acts that were not taken into consideration in implementing those reforms. When we were at the NUC, we told them that we are reverting to the status quo ante on the issue of consolidation of tertiary institutions and their agencies,” he said
Meanwhile, Aja-Nwachuku has advised university teachers who are currently engrossed in negotiations with the Federal Government to be very careful and put public interest in whatever agreement they reach with the Federal Government’s negotiation team.
The Minister, who was at the conference room of the NUC where the university teachers were meeting the Mr. Gamaliel Onosode-led negotiating team, pledged that the Federal Government would abide with whatever decision that would be reached provided such decisions were in the national interest and not the selfish interest of any group.
The former education minister had, during her brief tenure, instituted a wide range of reforms in the education sector, notably the consolidation of tertiary institutions in which polytechnics would become campuses of universities and award degrees, and the public-private partnership in the management of federal government colleges.
Some of the measures have been met with criticisms from various commentators, including the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Ahmadu Ali, who likened the “sale” of unity schools to selling the family’s silverware.

"We shall be unfolding our plans as we visit relevant parastatals. Information available to us shows that we need to do further consultations on the policies bearing in mind that they were some existing Acts that were not taken into consideration in implementing those reforms. When we were at the NUC, we told them that we are reverting to the status quo ante on the issue of consolidation of tertiary institutions and their agencies,” he said .


At COREN assy he told us that he will soon call everybody to discuss the issue.
To me once the HND discrimination come to an end Polytechnic can stay.

the new minister should hit the nail on the head and stop blabing, so until he visit he will not disclose his plan OR will i say he dont know the task b4 him.I hope he will not worsen the case at hand

Let them give recognition to polytechnics and HND certificate in Nigeria the way they do to universities and Bachelors Degree certificate; chikena!! that is all we want.

guys please advice, i want to seek admission into a cool and good polytechnic but i don't have the brochure to check their requirements, can anyone help me out? i need someone to also tell me what to do, i have a pass in my english, would that stop me from gaining admission into a polytechnic of my choice?

Ado is okay
Ede is cool

Yaba is not bad.

But beware of HND discrimination

WELL TO MY OWN,IF YOU ARE PLANNING TO WORK INE THE LABOUR MARKETS TO SURVIVE AND SUCCEED THEN I WILL ADVIDE YOU GO FOR A UNIVERSITY DEGREE , COS THE DISCRIMINATION IS REALLY DISGUSTING TO AN H.N.D. HOLDER IF NOT YOU WILL HAVE HYPERTENTION WHEN YOU USE YOUR H.N.D. TO WORK,
BUT IF YOU ARE NOT INTENDING TO WORK FOR ANYBODY YOU CAN PROCEED IN YOUR H.N.D DEGREE, I MEAN IF YOU WANNA BE SELF EMPLOYED AND BE AN ENTREPRENUER,

GOD BLESS ALL H.N.D HOLDERS GOD BLESS NIGERIA, BAD BELLES GO FOR EVER FALL,

THEY should end it quick and OPEN more PUREWATER companies so that they can [HUSSLE] HA HA HA ;DHA

They do not want Polytechnic dead

WHY HND SHOULD STAY----NSE President Ezeh
A way of up grading the Nations skill, the scraping would create a GAP

Then let them stop discriminating against HND.

THE CHALLENGES AND PROSPECT OF ALL ENGINEERING FAMILY
BY: HND-Holder FNATE, MNSE
Introduction

Democracy is the government of the people which the Engineering family is one. It is therefore an opportunity for all the member of the family to prove their identity and by so doing we could develop a foresight for chances and benefit that come with the democracy.
Nigerian Engineering family was a fallout of decree 27 of 1992 as an amendment to degree number 55 of 1970. It permits COREN to control and regulate Engineering practice in Nigeria in all its aspects and ramification, it caters for 65 Engineering disciplines and keep register for Engineers, Technologist, Craftsmen, Technicians and Consulting firms all these five bodies are collectively known as Engineering family.
CHALLENGES:- The family is currently experiencing emotional in-maturity since the decrees were all military instrument, the foundation of emotional maturity are laid in infancy and Psychologist noted particular in the first five years It is during these very early days that a baby gradually become aware of himself and of other people.
This awareness is naturally accompanied by feelings he may feel good about himself, or just the opposite. He may feel himself to be a person alive and real or he may feel he is only a thing without value. These decrees are not natural as some cadres are without value it should be replaced with another law passed under the democracy. How can you have 26 seats and 23 out of the were occupied by One Cadre .

Under democracy this is a challenge, the decrees are not fair enough it favors one particular cadre. I know that central character in the baby's world is of course, his mother it is she normally who gives him a sense of his own personality and good feelings about himself, but suppose a child experiences insecurity and fear at one stage that he is completely devastated by it. What then? He remains fixated unable to get beyond that point in his emotional development, even though he becomes physically and mentally mature. COREN is 30 years old and Nigeria is 40 years old. Some of us in this family now experience insecurity, which is another challenge in this democratic world. The decrees are part of our family fixation, the B.Tech, B.Sc. and B.Eng. with all the confusions caused by our parent body. Parents are as gods to a baby, and to be in the hands of cruel and evil gods is unthinkable. By now we as a family are probably beginning to realize that our weakness is a relic from the past. It does not belong to the present day democratic situations which bring it to the surface. It is in fact, a childhood experience that is being reenacted in our adult life of 30 and 40. Many of us in the Engineering family are unaware of the fact that man's self-esteem is a very delicate plant, and if that self-esteem is affronted by nagging, criticism or belittlement then emotionally he sags and dies like a hot house plant facing the north-east wind.
The British is the mother of Nigeria and Military is the father of COREN. Nigeria places a low priority to Technical and Vocational education - the sub-sector encompassing the majority of the engineering family (Yakubu 2000). This of course is not unconnected to our colonial history. As with most former British colonies education in the country was conceived as purely literary education. Expatriate colonial administrators were graduates mostly of arts; consequently the literary tradition and the University degree became symbols of prestige.
Even when COREN was delivered as a baby by the military government of General Yakubu Gowon in 1970, did not recognize the technical product, those with technical papers were looked down on and COREN acted and seal the hope of so many. Engineer's cadre was the only LORD. In 1992 another military government ammeded the decree but gave more seats to engineers' and left the craftsmen with only one seat whereas craftsmen by ratio of 1:4:12 are more than the Engineers instead of addressing the issue at stake, on the contrary the sub-professional cadres have not won esteem .we continue to behave like the ancient creeks who viewed work as a low-grade activity that nevertheless cannot be disposed with. Yet it has been clearly demonstrated many times, how countries like Japan and South East Asia have anchored their growth and industrialization on massive PRODUCTION of trained sub-professional cadres.
Here in Nigeria today we import just anything 'for sale' with numerous fruits available in our continent we still import Apple. How about Tokunbo underwear's, shoes, used motor and industrial spare parts, is our country Nigeria now a dumping ground?. Production is at zero level, most production companies are with one problem or the other and these are challenges to the Engineering family in this democratic set up.
It will be recalled that Military Governments of General Gowon and Gen. Babangida signed the instrument setting up COREN into law. Could that be the causes of our problems? Looking down on the technicians, craft-men and the technologist is a challenge that we must be prepared to address as one family what everybody want is "Engineer" before their name. A debated Engineering act could have served better in the national houses of assembly since democracy allows freedoms of speech and expression we should all speak out to know who is who in this family and to know who is actually doing which job and see how our profession could be move forward.

What is the pride of a Nigerian registered Engineer, look at the Lagos Engineering office at Victoria Island Lagos, What shall we say about the NSE house at ABUJA, how about COREN Building at Ikoyi and what of equipment [if any] made in Nigeria, well Nigerian know how to celebrate success and identify themselves with achievement. Only Nigeria in Africa use the tittle ' Engineer ' to replace Mr or Mrs, we love tittles more than technology. Other challenges can be found in evaluating our Engineering personnel, we can check mate the civil service syndrome of paper qualification and replace same with a productive capacity. We have our rights protected under the law by so doing government subventions used in funding companies can be saved if these companies are made productive.
We can also remove bars place on our members for lack of paper qualification and depend on their experiences and merit , another challenge is to support the government in its privatization programme.
PROSPECTS
What, are we to do in this democracy which will help us to become as mature emotionally as we are physically. We must think carefully about our own particular problems, cadre by cadre, especially in the light of all I have just said. Then find out where any sense of insecurity or axienty take us.
Remember whether we are troubled in a guilt complex, a phobia, depression dependence, or other emotional way as a result of terrible experience of insecurity we were exposed during the military rule.
1. Recapture those experiences (before this family came about) and the Engineering during military and relive the fear that the cause of our trouble is past with democracy here.
2. We should build our Ego as Craftsmen, Technician, Technologist and or Engineer. Deep down in our unconscious we should accept a picture of ourselves and believe in our selves. We should live our life to the full as Engineering personnel and love it and enjoy it.
3. We should put our personality as a member of this family to test. Just so long as we (as craftsmen, Technician and Technologist) assume we are weak, immature unattractive and unwanted, we bar the way to mature relationships. Assume we are as acceptable as Engineers, you will find that we are in fact accepted even more.
It is time therefore to use this democratic period in finding solution to master and slave relationship in the Engineering family that will go with mutual respect let engineers know themselves and let us know what we are after all what is in the name, can any one tell me the University Isaac Newtown, Galio e.t.c attended? and who is their Professor? . Infact most us that want "Engineer" before our names what have we to show for it ?

The qualification scheme was not well understood the difficulty in movement upward is a challenge on its own. We hope this present democracy which brought us back to the Global village, will also stop the "Tokubo's" and address such issues also prevent this country from becoming a permanent dumping ground, Engineering family members are now President, Governors, Senators and are involved in Major National projects. We must shun sentiments now for the sake of Technological maturity and independence and use our manpower as done by work minister.
The level bar placed on the other family members is about been removed, in last Engineering assembly one of the craftsmen was giving a honour we expect more of that and hope it will continue in this democratic rule.
As the population increases the burden on the Engineering family to provide for all also increases, with this new era of democracy we need nothing but our originality of thoughts and superior skills in Engineering.

CONCLUSION
The government should put more effort to allow our national planning aim at uplifting our profession and high complement to technological progress, massive investment in research and development activities and an environment conducive for creativity.
Our communication, transportation and other facilities needed for industrial take off which the present government embarked upon is commendable that naturally the family would benefit greatly in the development and in future encourage the masses to patronize made in Nigeria goods.

Thanks.

polytechnics in Nigeria are like Technical/Vocational schools now; The society no longer value certificates obtained from there.

With valueless than the skills

ASUP vows to resist merger of Ibadan Poly with LAUTECH
By Tope Abiola and Qudirat Hakeem-Apampa - 04.10.2007
http://www.tribune.com.ng/04102007/news/news13.html

THE Polytechnic, Ibadan, branch of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) has vowed to resist moves by the Oyo State government to merge the school with the Ladoke Akintola University Technology (LAUTECH).


Addressing journalists after a congress of the union at the North Campus of the institution on Wednesday, the lecturers described the move by the government to consolidate the two institutions as uncivilised and an attempt to kill education in the state.


According to the chairman of the association, Mr. Segun Akindele, “contemplating to merge the polytechnic which had been in existence since 1978 with LAUTECH of about 10 years old would deprive indigenes of the state their rights to technical education.”


They said the merger of the two institutions would also hamper development, adding that “the basis for the merger was anti-logic, unethical and unbecoming of the status of a state as Oyo, which prides itself as pace-setter.”


According to the union, “anything short of availing The Polytechnic, Ibadan, its autonomy would be resisted by the entire industrial unions in the institution, its students and the campus community in general.”


The union described the state government’s efforts to consolidate its tertiary institutions as needless going by the suspension of the policy to consolidate the existing polytechnics with universities across the nation by President Umaru Yar’adua.


Reacting to the condemnation of the proposed merger, Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala, through his Special Adviser on Public Communication, Prince Dotun Oyelade, urged the polytechnic community not to panic over the proposal, assuring that “when government is ready to take a final decision on the issue, it will be in the interest of all stakeholders in the educational system.”

Do you blame oyo state goverment? No; they don't want to spend money again in training graduates that the society doesnt want.

'Govt is Killing Technological Education in Nigeria'
Elder Onukaogu, rector of Abia Polytechnic, Aba, in this interview, speaks on technical education, parity between polytechnic teachers and their university counterparts as well as the proposal to scrap higher national diploma. Excerpts:

WHAT do you think are the problems militating against technical education in Nigeria?


The basic problem is that government is giving feeble support to technological and technical education. Government is not really serious. They say so much about the need for technological advancement and do so very little to support it. Let me give you an example:
Universities are supported with N50 million ETF money, polytechnics are given half of that, and colleges of education are even given half of what polytechnics are given. That will show you the prejudice of government. To set up a workshop costs much more than it would cost to set up a lecture room for say accountancy department.
Government does not match its words with action. Government is not serious. Once the government becomes serious about technological education, there will be significant improvement. A further evidence of government's unseriousness is its attitude towards the products of polytechnics. Until this attitude of government changes, we may not have a very different situation for a long time to come.