My office has been under a mango tree for 18 years, says Kaduna ASUP chairman

Aliyu Ibrahim, chairman, Kaduna chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnic (ASUP), has called on the federal government to improve the state of infrastructure in Nigerian polytechnics.

Speaking to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)  on Tuesday in Kaduna, Ibrahim decried the high level of infrastructure deficit in the institution, stating that nothing had changed in terms of infrastructure since he graduated from the institution in 1994.

He claimed that his office had been under the mango tree for more than 18 years.

“I am privileged to be talking to you in this office today because I’m ASUP chairman but my office is under the mango tree,” Ibrahim said.

“I do not have an office since I joined the institution 18 years ago. I sit under the mango tree.

“If my students or anybody wants to see me, he must either meet me in the class or strategically position himself and wait for me to pass by.

“This is just to tell you how bad the situation is. It is affecting our motivation and making it difficult to impact.”

He accused the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund ) of being unfair to polytechnics in terms of intervention for infrastructural development.

“If TETFund gives university N200 million, for example, it will give polytechnic N50 million for infrastructure, he said.

“Nigeria is a developing economy and needs the middle class of manpower to develop the economy.”

Ibrahim while stating the role of polytechnic education said that the lack of infrastructure in the institution will impede its performance

“The essence of polytechnic education is to bring out middle class operations in terms of technological advancement, design implementation and even research.

“The lack of infrastructure in the system is hampering the ability of the middle class to deliver.”

Ibrahim called on the federal government to address infrastructure challenges affecting polytechnic education in the country.