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By Madu Obi
The federal government, through the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETfund, has built two hostels in Federal Polytechnic, Oko, Anambra State at a cost of N550 million.
The two hostels, each for male and female hostels, were sponsored under TETfund's 2020 special interventions
The hostel buildings consist of 26 rooms each with the capacity of accommodating 208 students and are equipped with modern facilities which are tailored to give students a decent and conducive accommodation space to achieve peak performance academically.
The facilities were inaugurated by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Petroleum, (Downstream) and member, Senate Committee on Education and TETFund, Senator Ifeanyi Ubah.
Speaking during the commissioning ceremony, Ubah reiterated National Assembly's willingness to continue working harmoniously with the executive arm of government towards making the nation's educational institutions globally competitive for economic and technological development.
Ubah, who represents Anambra South Senatorial district also assured that the Senate would continue to provide necessary support to the Fund through enactment of legislations that would further advance tertiary education in Nigeria.
He said: "The National Assembly will continue to provide necessary support to the Fund through the enactment of legislations that would further advance tertiary education in Nigeria."
"Aside support for physical infrastructure and provision of equipment in the institution, TETFund has also sponsored 101 lecturers for Ph.D from the Polytechnic in both foreign and local institutions at a cost of N487,527,656.10."
"TETFund has also sponsored 60 lecturers for Masters Degrees in both foreign and local institutions totalling N293,102,460.00, while 90 staff have been sponsored for conference attendance locally and abroad at a total cost of N111,471,159.50."
Ubah urged the Polytechnic to take full advantage of the facilities for the educational and vocational development of the students.
The Executive Secretary of TETfund, Mr. Sonny Echono said the projects, which were executed between 2021 and 2023, would go a long way towards steming the tide of negative influences on students youth population and address security concerns in the Polytechnic community.
Echeno, who was represented by the Director, Monitoring and Evaluation Department, Mr. Babatunde Olajide said the projects were thoughtfully prioritized by the Polytechnic to provide requisite infrastructure for the students wellbeing.
"In line with the Renewed Hope agenda of President Bola Tinubu administration, the Fund is committed to ensure the sustenance of funding to all public beneficiary institutions to enable them attain high global ranking in delivery of academic content," he said.
While commending the Polytechnic management and project team for ensuring quality delivery and sticking to terms, Echono appealed that the facilities be put to their proper use and maintained to serve generations to come.
The Rector of the Polytechnic, Dr. Francisca Nwafulugo described the hostels as a giant step in the institution's quest to accommodate more of its students within the polytechnic towards enhancing their security and well-being.
"In addition to these hostels, we also have the School of Environmental Design and Technology Building which is a capital funded project," she added.
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