Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, is set to end a 12-year hiatus in academic convocation at Rufus Giwa Polytechnic (RUGIPO), Owo, with the 12th to 23rd combined convocation slated for Saturday.
Speaking at a press conference ahead of the ceremony, the Rector, Mr Olorunwa Adegun, said the last convocation was held in 2013, noting that the institution had since been crippled by financial distress, labour crises, and disrupted academic calendars.
“When I assumed duty in 2023, the polytechnic was in a state of near collapse, workers were owed 14 months’ salaries, and staff schools were shut down,” Adegun said. He added that the institution survived on irregular and fractional salary payments as low as five per cent.
Adegun credited Governor Aiyedatiwa for stabilising the institution through increased monthly subvention and a Special Intervention Fund (SIF), which helped restore operations, reopen staff schools, and revive internally generated revenue channels.“
The governor’s decisive interventions have brought the polytechnic back to life and restored its position as a leading institution of technical education in the region,” Adegun affirmed.
