Kano poly no longer glorified secondary school – Galadanci

Professor Dalhatu Muhammad Galadanci was one of the pioneer students of Kano State Polytechnic. He studied Purchasing and Supply Management at the institution in 1978 when General Olusegun Obasanjo introduced a one year national diploma programme in the country.  Galadanci, who was recently appointed Rector of the institution by Governor Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso, in this interview, speaks on the polytechnic and other issues. Excerpts:

You took over the mantle of leadership of Kano Polytechnic at a time when the institution was enmeshed in controversies, how has it been?
It has not been easy as I met the polytechnic in a very sorry state. The governor instructed me to restore the glory of this polytechnic. Today, things are better. All stakeholders in the polytechnic are now up and doing as they have since realised the fact that we now have a rejuvenated polytechnic, a rebranded citadel of high learning. We are coming up with the polytechnic academic board to address the lapses in academic facet of the institution. This is coming to fruition after 10 years without an academic board in the institution. When I came here, I met hundreds of casual workers who were not paid for six months.  We are also addressing the training of our staff. Our staffers are going to various countries for further studies. Before my coming, pilferages and stealing were the normal occurrence in the polytechnic but since my coming into office, all areas have now been blocked. We have recruited casual staff to beef up security in the institution. Mobility is very important in this polytechnic because our campuses are spread across the state. I met the polytechnic in a very poor condition in terms of logistics, especially as it concerned vehicles.  I have repaired our official vehicles, they may look rickety but half bread is better than none. One important area that I will like to talk about is the issue of power generating sets. Since we are divided into six, you will expect six different generators at six different locations in Kano. We all know the power supply situation in Kano, a condition that has made us to rely more on our generators.

How much do you spend on fuelling six generators weekly?
We consume 12 drums of diesel costing us about N2.6m per week on average. Remember that the schools at the rural areas run their generators for 24 hours because students are on campus even at night. So you can’t keep them in darkness or else the issue of snake bite and other problems will now start coming up. In order to protect them, there has to be light.  Some of the generators are old. Had it been the generators are new, the consumption would not be up to 12 drums per week.

This polytechnic is seen as a glorified secondary school, how do you intend to turn it around for it to be able to compete favourably with its counterparts nationwide?
We are sending staff for training abroad and we are spending N72 m on the training, no secondary school can afford this. That proves to you that this place is beyond a secondary school now. I would have agreed with you some time ago, but now it is no longer a glorified secondary school. It is a rebranded polytechnic, a refurbished one and it is a new citadel of learning.  Look at the list of our staff going for further studies, there is nobody going for first degree. They are all MSc and PhD. We are remodelling this school, give us just one year, you will see the difference.

What is the staff strength of your institution?
Many staffers that were supposed to be on academic training couldn’t go because over N54m meant for their training was not properly utilised by the last administration in the school. In polytechnics, equivalent of professors are chief lecturers and we have a lot of them here in Kano Polytechnic. However, our staff strength needs to be revitalised because for over three years there have not been employment, we borrowed lecturers from other institutions.

One of the major problems bedevilling the country’s education sector is the production of unemployable graduates by higher institutions, what measures are you putting in place to make graduates of your institution employable?
We are seriously addressing this as no student would graduate from this polytechnic without acquiring a vocational skill. We have a school that is responsible for the training of our students on vocational skills. We also have a school of entrepreneurial studies that teaches our students on how to be an entrepreneur. For a student to complete a diploma course he or she must pass through this school. At the school, our students are taught trade like shoes production, tailoring, poultry, fish farming, carpentry and bread making. Our graduates are everywhere in the state doing their beautiful businesses without waiting for unavailable employment. They are employers of labour and not job seekers. We are strengthening the school in order to consolidate on these successes so far recorded.

Statutorily, polytechnics are supposed to be producing middle class manpower for the stimulation of the country’s technology but now the reverse seems to be the case as polytechnics are producing more arts graduates.  What is the ratio of science and arts students in Kano Polytechnic?
We are still working on that. The ratio we are trying hard to catch up with is the national ratio for arts and science students. In the polytechnic sector we have been directed to make sure that 70 of our intakes should be sciences and engineering related courses while the remaining 30 percent should be for arts and social sciences. We are working on this and we are getting closer to achieving that.

Kano now has three universities, does this development affect the enrolment of students in your institution?
Polytechnic education in the country is becoming popular more than ever before. Rationalisation of courses in Nigeria is now known to be one of the only ways of getting the country up and doing. For example, now Bayero University Kano (BUK) doesn’t offer any diploma courses unlike before. Diploma courses are the businesses of polytechnics and this is why the yearnings for polytechnic education are growing. Our area is to train diploma students and a lot of our courses are fully accredited. This polytechnic has come back to life and our major task is to produce middle class manpower required to turn around the country.

Is it right for Kano State Government to sponsor students to go abroad to study courses offered in the country?
For you to know why these things are happenings you need to be a specialist in the education sector of the country. Look at the number of our students that write JAMB every year and then look at the number that are admitted into polytechnics, universities, colleges of education, you will find out that  there is a serious gap. We have a lot of qualified students but the spaces available for them in Nigerian schools are limited, hence, the need to address the shortfall through going to schools abroad. The governor is not only sending the students abroad but he has sent a lot of them to Nigerian private universities.

How do you think the disparity between polytechnics and universities graduates can be addressed?
There is a way out because I was in many Europeans countries and I saw the way they are treating the holders of the two certificates. Here in Nigeria the disparity is exaggerated. But I will not want to predict a way out because a national committee is addressing this and we are hoping that something good would come out from the committee

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