Nigeria polytechnic to start degree programmes

The Federal Polytechnic, Bida in Niger says arrangements have been concluded to introduce degree programmes in the institution .
The Chairman of the Governing Board , Prof . Mohammed Yahaya , made this known when he led members of the board on a visit to the Etsu Nupe , Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar in Bida on Saturday.
The Polytechnic began in 1977 following the decision of the Federal Government Nigeria to move the Federal College of Technology , Kano, to Bida with first Prof . J . W . Brooks, a Canadian , appointed on Sept . 5 , 1977 , as the first Principal.
The Bida College of Technology as it was called then began the first academic session in April 1978 with 211 students and a staff strength of 11 senior and 33 junior staff members .
The board chairman said all the relevant agencies of government had approved the undergraduate programmes .
Yahaya , who described the Polytechnic as one of the best in the country, said the new board had resolved to take it to greater
heights .
While assuring the Etsu Nupe of the council ’ s readiness to work with the host community, he pledged to improve on the achievements of the institution .
He thanked the host community for the cordial relationship it had established with the institution since its inception .
The Etsu Nupe and Chairman , Niger State Council of Traditional Rulers, Abubakar , urged the board to live up to its billing and promised to sustain the support of the council toward the growth of the school .
The Federal Government had in May inaugurated new governing boards for its tertiary institutions.
( NAN)