The proliferation of satellite campuses by higher institutions is threatening the quality of education in Nigeria.
The management of the Novelty Polytechnic, Kishi, Ibadan, Oyo State, which stated this in Abuja, said the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) must move against all illegal outreaches scattered all over the federation.
Novelty Polytechnic raised the alarm on the activities of some unscrupulous persons that are floating outreach centres in Oyo, Niger, Lagos and Abuja in the name of the institution.
A former National President of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Lanre Ogundipe, who is a board member of the institution, said the Polytechnic would never engage in actions against the regulations or compromise the standards set out by the regulatory agency, NBTE, that oversees technical education in Nigeria.
Ogundipe, however, revealed that one of the staff engaged as a canvasser, from the school community with the mandate of bringing students and transmuted himself into Managing Director of the institution unknown to the owner.
He alleged that the canvasser established illegal satellite campuses in Ibadan, Lagos, Niger and Abuja and directed the proceed to his pocket.
He revealed that on discovery of the illegal activities, the school authorities in December 2022, invited the police and that he was charged with embezzlement of over N50 million, and was later granted bail by the court.
His words: “From then he began the shenanigans and campaign in the media against the school. We did want to join issues with him. We felt that by the time we started with him, they would now be saying because those people are media men. We want to prove to the larger public that we had good intentions of having him as a partner to work with us on this project but he has ulterior motives to defraud the school and smear the image of the school and the Proprietor.
“We carried out audited accounts of the school during about eight months and discovered that he embezzled over N50 million, then we sacked him.
“Having gone to this level the school wrote to NBTE as a regulatory body to alert them of what has happened and asking them to close down the satellite campuses. The first letter we wrote was in January. The Proprietor himself wrote the letter. Unfortunately, NBTE did not react to any of these letters.
“As soon as the man was released on bail he got one NGO (Non-Governmental Organisation) Initiative for Citizens Rights to start writing petition against the school.”
He also added that at no time did the polytechnic shield the existence of the illegal centres, saying letters were written by the Proprietor of the Polytechnic, Dr Abdul Ganiyu Salami to the Executive Secretary of the National Board for Technical Education, Kaduna on 28th April, 2023, entitled, ‘request for Urgent Closure of Illegal Satellite Campuses of Novelty Polytechnic, Kishi, being Operated by Fraudsters’.
The letter, which was seen by The nigeriacurrently.com read in part: “I refer to my previous correspondences of January, February, March and the recent ones of 12th, 15th, 24th, and 25th April, 2023 respectively, relating to the above subject matter.
“My meeting with you at your Abuja Laison Office is also relevant after which followed a deluge of frivolous petitions by a fraudster, one Madiu AbdulBakai and his collaborators.
“Madiu, just getting out of remand on bail on the criminal case in Court over his embezzlement of over N50m from Novelty Polytechnic, has engaged in a war of attrition against us.
“He and his group are still running the illegal Campuses he cunningly established through forged letters he wrote in my names and those of some previous staff of my Polytechnic (copies he attached to his petition to as of infractions against the Polytechnic.
“We have found out that he deliberately used my electronic signature in his custody and implanted same on the letters.
“He also forged my signature, approving several educational institutions which initially requested to canvass and populate Novelty on commission. They used this avenue to establish campuses of Novelty Poly.
“Novelty never applied to NBTE for Satellite campuses outside of Kishi nor does she have any approval to run any, hence we quickly did a public disclaimer on discovering the illegality.”
The polytechnic noted that not being an approving authority, it could not on its decree campuses into existence, adding, “Not only did we not direct the owners of these outfits to close down, we also, reported to NBTE and requested for support to shut down the Abuja, Suleija, Bida, Mowe, Igando, Ibadan, Lagos, Agege etc, expecting Madiu and his collaborators to be sanctioned.”
