Assessing Fed Poly Nekede's anti-exploitation policies, moral direction

• Published date: 02 February 2023
• Publication title: Nigeria - The Nation

The Rector, Federal Polytechnic Nekede, Dr. Michael Chidiebere Arimanwa, has recorded smart, profound successes in the area of discipline and moral reawakening among staff and students. His pragmatic approach in this direction could best be described as a paradigm shift.

Among the proactive measures the Rector has put in place to check indiscipline, the one that readily stands out, according to observers, is the whistle-blowing policy.

It was through this policy that a set of three numbers were made available to students to call or text in situations where they feel exploited by staff or fellow students. The rector also committed to protecting the identity of any student who blows the whistle when distressed. Beyond the whistle-blowing, students have been availed so many options to ventilate their complaints without fear of intimidation.

There are the options of reporting to the Division of Student Affairs, Student Union Government, Women in Technical Education and Development (WITED), Federal Polytechnic Nekede Owerri Women Association (FEPNOWA) and Service Compact for all Nigerians (SERVICOM), who only last year rated the polytechnic among the best institutions in service delivery nationwide.

In a The Sun article of Thursday, January 12, 2023, page 12, the Rector was described as setting the pace in arresting perennial unwholesome practices in academia.

'Rector Arimanwa has also set up a task force which has sensitised students to report cases of exploitation of any kind for necessary disciplinary action.

'In addition, the Rector has charged women organisations such as the FEPNOWA and the WITED to join in the fight against financial or sexual exploitation. To this end, cases of extortion and exploitation have been reduced to the barest minimum or eliminated in the polytechnic.

'To stave off incidences of non-teaching staff exploiting students at the point of registration or processing of files, the Rector has completely digitised operations in the institution as students do their registrations and documentation digitally. Thus, a student can stay at home and do all his registrations with the aid of an android phone. With this, there will be little or no queues which give room for exploitation.'

The Rector has also been resolute in arresting the corruption in textbook writing and sales. In a move described as unprecedented, he put a price seal on the sales of textbooks. There is virtually no institution around that has gone as far as regulating the sales of...