Education Greatest Weapon For Socio-Political, Economic Engineering – Sanwo-Olu

The Lagos State governor, Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, has stated that education is the greatest weapon for social, political and economic engineering of any society.

According to him, no society can develop without good investment in the education of its citizens, or without the enabling environment for innovative and progressive ideas to blossom.

Sanwo-Olu, while delivering a speech at the 27th convocation of The Lagos State Polytechnic, Ikorodu, on Thursday, said that Lagos, cognisant of this fact, had been investing heavily in the provision of affordable and qualitative education in all public schools in the state.

Stating that education remained one of the cardinal planks of his governance vision, T.H.E.M.E.S Agenda, the governor added that “Polytechnics occupy a very important role, as the bastions of technological innovation and development.”

He said that having realised that industrialisation was a veritable path towards job creation, poverty alleviation and sustainable economic growth, the federal and state governments in Nigeria had been striving to join the league of industrialised nations.

“Developing industrial capacity also means that we will be able to offer to the world goods and services that are of greater economic value. We will be able to offer processed agricultural goods, we will ramp up our exports and earn foreign exchange, and we will be in a position to benefit from the increasing shift of global manufacturing capacity from Asia towards Africa,” he stated.

The governor, who noted that the nation’s polytechnics must be properly positioned for these opportunities, said, “Technical education must never be seen as playing second fiddle to university education; both must be seen as equally-placed alternatives for young people on the journey to a productive future.”

Samuel Sogunro, Rector LASPOTECH, in his address, said: “Today, we are glad to present a total number of 16,315 well groomed, adequately trained and highly enterprising graduates who have completed their National Diploma (ND) and Higher National Diploma (HND) programmes in various disciplines needed for our nation’s socio-economic development and have compulsorily acquired vocational skills at the polytechnic’s Centre for Entrepreneurship and Skills Acquisition (CESA).”

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He said that out of the total number of graduands, there were 598 with distinction; 5,332 with upper credit; 8,268 with lower credit, and 2,117 with pass.

While assuring that the state government would not allow the Lagos State Polytechnic to lag behind in any way, Sanwo-Olu said: “Our vision is to catalyse the development of a world-class tertiary institution that will produce graduates who know and are confident of their place in the demanding world of the 21st century.

“We will also support the teaching staff of the Polytechnic to develop their skills and stay abreast of developing global trends and technologies.”

“This administration will continue to give maximum support to the Polytechnic and other state-owned tertiary institutions with a view to ensuring that the current high standards are maintained and improved upon,” the governor added.

Acknowledging the positive and supportive roles played by the management of the Polytechnic under the Rector, Samuel Sogunro, in sustaining the institution’s rich culture of academic excellence, the governor said that the quality of the graduating students was a testament to the hard work that has gone into moulding them in knowledge and in conduct.

“This administration will continue to give maximum support to the Polytechnic and other State-owned tertiary institutions with a view to ensuring that the current high standards are maintained and improved upon,” he assured.

Announcing that the state government has approved the construction of perimeter fencing on the Ikorodu campus to put a stop to further encroachment of the Polytechnic’s land, the governor said: “The Ikorodu Campus will very soon get a befitting Administration Block and a mini Fire Station.

“The welfare of Polytechnic Staff is also a priority for our administration. Towards resolving the crisis over the implementation of CONTISS 15 migration, the state government had inaugurated a Visitation Panel to look into the remote and immediate causes of the crisis, and recommend a fair and satisfactory course of action. I therefore urge all the parties to the crisis to follow the path of peace and await the government’s position on the matter.”