The management of Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, says no fewer than 13,667 students will be graduating at its combined convocation ceremony, scheduled for Saturday.

The institution’s Rector, Dr Dayo Oladebeye, disclosed this at a pre-convocation news conference in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital on Monday.

The convocation held among week-long activities for the celebration of the polytechnic’s 45th anniversary is for the three pending graduating sets of 2018/2019, 2019/2020, and 2021/2022.

Oladebeye, while giving the breakdown of the 18th combined convocation, said a total of 14,000 Higher National Diploma (HND) and National Diploma (ND) full time and part-time students would be graduating at the event.

The Rector expressed satisfaction with the level of development recorded since his assumption of office as the sixth substantive rector on Feb. 2018.

Oladebeye, who was the first alumnus to become a rector in the institution, promised to continue to work for the progress and development of the polytechnic, even after leaving office.

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He said the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi, Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, and Modupe Babalola, wife of the Founder of Afe Babalola University (ABUAD), Ado-Ekiti, would be honoured at the event.

Oladebeye said the awardees were being recognised to encourage the graduating students and those still in school to aspire to greater heights.

The Rector listed some of the achievements recorded within his four-year tenure to include the construction of the Mechanical Software Laboratory and procurement of Hi-Tech Communication Gadgets for the security unit.

Others, according to him, are construction of chief lecturers’ offices, deployment of efficient internet facility and services, and reconstruction of some dilapidated buildings on the campus.

He said the polytechnic had established the School of Agriculture and Agricultural Technology, while it had also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Jeron Global Consult in South Africa for collaboration on mining practical training of MPRET students.

Oladebeye said that the institution was currently facing the challenge of lack of enough operational vehicles, while those in operation were in very poor conditions.

He said that there were also lack of befitting hostel buildings for students.

He listed other challenges as dilapidated staff quarters, lack of multipurpose indoor sports hall, inadequate books and other learning materials, paucity of funds for capital, overhead as well as inadequate computers and accessories for practical.

Oladebeye, therefore, solicited for the assistance of kind-hearted individuals and groups so that the vision and mission of the institution could be actualised.

While speaking on the issues surrounding the recent invitation of some management and staff of the institution by Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), the Rector said it was a routine investigation of the institution’s activities, as obtainable in other federal agencies.

The Star