Late Chief Rufus Giwa was a great citizen of Ondo state whose contributions to development and good governance earned him a posthumous recognition with the renaming of the Ondo State Polytechnic as The Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo.

For several years, that name had a great effect on that institution which ranked once as one of the best state owned polytechnic in Nigeria. RUGIPO (as it is called) became the hallmark of academic excellence and a school of choice for many students seeking a good alternative to university education, thereby culminating in massive enrollment and patronage.

The institution once boasted of a student population of almost eight thousand with it's attendant economic effect on Owo town and its environs, until the Akeredolu/APC-led Ondo State Government came into power in 2016 and appointed a an acting Rector, Mr. Gani Ogundahunsi for the institution and a Governing Board that has been highly underperforming led by Mr. Banji Alabi, wherein enrollment into the school dropped to as low as about 1900 (as at 2019).

The management of the institution, under the Mr. Banji Alabi-led Governing Council has been classified by many lovers of the institution, as the most underperforming administrative system that has ever been in charge of any institution of higher learning, based on its monumental failure in improving on what it met when it was appointed by the Rotimi Akeredolu led government.

The Council as been accused of gross acts of incompetence, maladministration, nepotism and willful neglect of due process in the course of its less than three years of being in charge of the institution. The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics is currently at loggerheads with the institutions management due to its' refusal to permit the management of that institution ruin the legacies of several years built on the back of competence and accountability.

The bone of contention between the ASUP and Management started when the Ondo State Government released a sum of 1.7billion naira to the institution to clear some backlog of salary arrears. The Union accused the Management of the Institution of removing a whooping sum of 500million Naira without recourse to the purpose for which the fund was released. The Management initially claimed that the withheld fund was to be used to fund capital projects within the Institution and till date, no project has been initiated nor commissioned by the Council from the deducted fund.

Very recently, the management of RUGIPO opted to close down its long running Staff School due to complaints that the institution could not afford to run the school or provide this most needed educational assistance to children of staff and the community. In spite of public outcry and an order by the state government to the institution to rescind that decision, the management of the  institution, closed down the school with the excuse that it is yet to receive a letter officially from government to that effect. This prompted the Union to conclude that its either the APC-led Ondo State government has an ulterior motive in allowing the administrators of the school to flout an instruction of government or it has become incapacitated in enforcing its own instructions to the school. Some have speculated that there may be clandestine moves to by some individuals to weaken the state owned polytechnic for reasons best known to government.

It is noteworthy, that the same institution that has complained of lack of funds to keep the staff school afloat, has also gone ahead to employ over 200 new members of staff into the institution without due recourse to laid down rules and regulations on employment. Allegedly, the leadership of that institution glorified nepotism by providing employment for many unqualified people and relatives of some administrative staff.

It is also alleged, that the management of the institution, deducted (without recourse to the purposes for which the sum of 100 million naira was released by the state government for accreditation) a sum of Twenty Five  million naira, which today remains unaccounted for by the governing council. The said deduction of the  sum of 25million remains a violation of the purpose for which the fund was released and must be investigated by government and the EFCC.

The chairman of the governing council, Mr. Banji Alabi also allegedly received the sum of 28 million naira into his personal  corporate account for the purchase of a state of the art Mercedes Benz (G-Wagon). Documents to that effect were obtained by our investigators and will be tendered to the appropriate authorities. The said vehicle has neither been seen nor received into the school vehicle pool. Documents available to us also shows that three units of used Toyota Corolla cars (2015 model) with a street value of 4.5million Naira was also purchased for the Deputy Rector, the Registrar and Bursar at a price of 7.5million Naira per vehicle, while the Rector also received a used Toyota  LandCruiser Prado Jeep at the sum of 18million Naira. These purchases were made by the institution and approved by management without due process. Indeed, the address of the vendor that supplied the Chairman of the Governing Council remains unknown as document available shows the address as " Km18, Expressway Lagos"; a location without any definite identity. We even learnt that the vendor is not  registered with the institution as a contractor neither was there a tender made for the purchase of the vehicles in line with laid down rules and regulations.

The most unfortunate and concerning part of the descent into decay in RUGIPO is that the current Commissioner for Education, Mr. Femi Agagu and a serving member of the Governing Council, Mrs. Agagu (Wife to the late Sage and Former Governor of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Agagu) would in their life time superintend over the destruction of a legacy that the former Governor worked tirelessly to make a citadel of higher learning. The Governing Council, rather than call the Management of the Institution to order, recently decided to look away when the management recruited over 250 new members of staff  without recourse to the huge debts owed existing staff members.  These temporary staff are being paid salaries of 45,000 ( for Master's Degree Holders) and 40,000 (for 1st Degree Holders) and have their employment renewable on a 6-month basis. The Council Chairman, who is from Isuada not only ensured the employment of his community King (Asuada of isuada) into the workforce of the institution but also approved the employment of the Ag. Registrar's daughter and son-in-law (who incidentally is an active staff of a local government)! No where has these acts of nepotism and callous gluttony of opportunism been seen and permitted than in RUGIPO.

As we speak, the management of the institution has suspended all activities of ASUP and some of the executives in order to pave  way for them to continue these actions unhindered. The Union had accused the Acting Rector of being far and above the stipulated age of 63 years which he claims as efforts are presently on to ensure his substantive appointment by via a kangaroo announcement for Vacancy into the post of Rector for the institution.

The National Board for Technical Education through a circular issued in June 2018 to all Federal Polytechnics (and copied to all state polytechnics) had stipulated that all applicants into a vacant position of RECTOR of a State or Federal Government Polytechnic must (amongst other qualifications)  not be above 59 years of age at the time of application. The current acting Rector is officially 63 (as he claims), yet the Board has through its constant acts of promoting nepotism, cleared a path for his appointment against the rule. It is also noteworthy, that a member  of the Interview Panel( Dr. Gbenga Jinadu ) happens to be related to the council Chairman Mr.  Banji Alabi. We must also note that  Ondo state edict for higher institutions states that retirement age is 60years and yet then same board is seeking to institute an illegality through its clandestine efforts at appointing the Mr. Gani Ogundahunsi as a substantive Rector for Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, not minding the monumental failure that has befallen that institution since this government appointed him in acting capacity.

It must also be made known that contrary to the rules that the Director of Purchasing in the institution must be a non academic staff, the current Director (Dr.  Gbenga Jinadu ) is not only an academic staff but also a younger cousin  to the Council Chairman just as the Bursar and Registrar are from his home town (Isuada).

The attention of the Governor, His Excellency, Rotimi Akeredolu SAN is hereby called to the present state of the Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, which is groaning and decaying under the incompetent management of Mr. Banji Alabi.

Written by *Akin Akanbi*
Public Affairs Analyst and Teacher, Akure