As part of efforts to increase access to University’s Technological Education, the Federal University of Technology, Minna has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for collaboration with the Federal Polytechnic, Ado Ekiti.
The MoU signing ceremony took place on Thursday, 20th August, 2020 at the Senate Chamber of FUT Minna’s Main Campus, Gidan Kwano, in Minna.
Speaking at the MoU signing ceremony, Rector of the Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti, Dr. Dayo H. Oladebeye observed that the new collaboration with FUT Minna was the icing on the cake of similar working relationships that were consummated earlier with some other national and international Institutions.
The Rector who observed that although the Federal Polytechnic Ado-Ekiti had existing collaborations with many local and international Institutions, however stressed that the MoU with FUT Minna is very special and the most elaborate in the history of the Polytechnic considering the number of programmes involved and the corresponding abounding opportunities for Nigerian youths to access higher education.
While thanking FUT Minna authorities for accepting to partner with the Polytechnic on academic collaboration, the Rector expressed hope that the relationship would be beneficial to both parties.
Dr. Oladebeye further assured the Vice Chancellor that the Polytechnic would work in consonance with the terms and conditions of the MoU, which includes “to increase their cooperation in the training of manpower in the area of Science, Engineering and Technology.”
Speaking before appending his signature to the document, the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Prof. Abdullahi Bala, commended Management of the Polytechnic for opting for FUT Minna despite the distance, saying that such commitment was a demonstration of the genuine aspiration which the Polytechnic has for the MoU.
Prof. Bala emphasised that, “the fact that the Rector is a product of the Polytechnic also goes to confirm his commitment to the Institution and the decision to partner with the University. You can never have a person that is better committed than a member of the alumni of that institution. We are happy that we are here this morning to sign this MoU. As partners, we will sit down and work together to see how to overcome some issues, with respect to the National Universities Commission’s requirements for affiliation programmes between University and Polytechnic”.
The Vice Chancellor also stated that the primary concern of FUT Minna for entering into the partnership is to use such affiliation as a platform to further enhance University degree access for Nigerians in line with the Institution’s mandate of community service.
The Director of FUT Minna’s Directorate of Collaboration, Affiliation and Linkages (DCAL), Prof. Johnson Segun Oyero, in his vote of thanks, expressed confidence that the MoU would usher in a new vista of greater opportunities for both institutions. He thanked the Vice-Chancellor for his support to the Directorate and assured the University’s Management that the Directorate would continue to attract collaborations to the Institution that would further enhance its ranking as a leading citadel of learning in the country.
Academic programs for offering by the Polytechnic through the signed MoU on affiliation with FUT Minna, subject to the approval of National Universities Commission, include seventeen degrees programs, which are:
1. Agricultural Extension and Rural Development;
2. Crop Science;
3. Water Resources;
4. Aquaculture and Fisheries Technology;
5. Food Science and Technology;
6. Microbiology;
7. Computer Science;
8. Statistics;
9. Building Technology;
10. Estate Management and Valuation;
11. Quantity Surveying;
12. Surveying and Geo-informatics;
13. Urban and Regional Planning;
14. Agriculture and Bioresources Engineering;
15. Civil Engineering;
16. Electrical/Electronic Engineering, and
17. Mechanical Engineering.
The Vice Chancellor, Prof. Abdulahi Bala together with the University’s Registrar, Mr. Amos Kolo and Director, DCAL, Prof. Johnson O. Oyero signed the MoU on behalf of FUT Minna, while signatories for the Polytechnic were the Rector, Dr. Dayo Oladebeye, the Registrar, Mrs. Kehinde Ekanem and Dr. Frederick Aso Isife, Director of the Polytechnic’s Directorate of University Degree Affiliation Programme (DUDAP).