Emmanuel Fasakin, the outgoing rector of the Federal Polytechnic, Ile Oluji, Ondo, says Nigeria cannot develop without polytechnic education.

Mr Fasakin stated that if polytechnic education were scrapped, the country would be doomed, pointing out that the bedrock of industrialisation was polytechnic.

The outgoing rector, who spoke on Sunday in Akure at the launching of his memoir to mark the end of a successful two-term tenure as the pioneer rector of the polytechnic, explained that it was polytechnic education that would produce manpower needed in factories.

The book titled ‘Beyond the Ordinary: The Journey of My Life and Experience at Federal Polytechnic, Ile Oluji’.

Mr Fasakin said Nigeria should not rely on manpower from outside the country for its industries to survive.

According to him, abolishing polytechnic education is tantamount to suicide.

He asked the Nigerian government to provide a conducive and enabling environment for Nigerian citizens to work and thrive in their respective academic endeavours.

Mr Fasakin noted that Nigerian scholars were leaving the shores of the country to where their potential would be harnessed and well remunerated.

He stated that he documented the book to tell his life story so that people who wanted to be transformational leaders and pioneers of institutions could know about challenges and proffer solutions.

Mr Fasakin said he had laid a good foundation in the institution regarding infrastructure and human development through teamwork and provided transformational leadership.

The outgoing rector stated that the institution, which took off in 2015, was ranked among the best in Nigeria, running the National Diploma (ND) and Higher National Diploma (HND) programmes.

(NAN)