The Honourable Minister for Youth Development,
The Chairman Governing Council Federal Polytechnic Offa,
The Rector Federal Polytechnic Offa,
The Chairman Board of Trustees,
The Executive Members of the Board,
Executive Members of the Federal Polytechnic Offa Alumni Association,
President and Executive Members of Federal Polytechnic Offa Alumni Association Local Chapters,
Distinguished Alumni
Gentlemen of the Press
Ladies and gentlemen.
I am pleased to welcome you all to another epoch-making event in the history of our distinct and reputable association, the Federal Polytechnic Offa Alumni Association. I want to first and foremost thank the Almighty Allah who preserved us and granted us journey mercies from our various destinations. I return all the glory, honour and adoration to His Holy name.
Distinguished Alumni, I will like us to observe a minute silence for one of us, our active and vibrant member who we lost to the cold hand of death, Comrade Moshood Adebayo Bello (A.K.A Igbin) amongst other members we have lost. I pray to Almighty Allah to continue to repose their souls and grant them Aljanat Fridaus. Ameen.
Before I will proceed with my address, I want to first and foremost welcome our distinguished guest of honour, the Honorable Minister of Youth Development, Hon. Ayodele Olawande Wisdom for adding splendor and value to the event with his presence not only as a special guest but as the guest speaker who will be taking us through today’s topic, ‘The role of alumni association in supporting national agenda and youth advancement.’ on behalf of the Federal Polytechnic Offa Alumni Association, I welcome you into our midst and commend you for advancing the course of renewed hope agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR , through your ministry.
Distinguished alumni, l must empathetically appreciate our cooperation and support for this union over the years, like our slogan, we are always better together as one big and united family. Let us remain resolute and focus as we forge ahead to advance our productivity and impact in our Alma Mata.
Dear colleagues, it is expedient to take us back to how we started the administration and what we have been able to put in place in our capacity to better the system and move the association forward. As we know, it has never been a one-man show, and therefore, I must salute the tremendous efforts of our Board of Trustees and my executive members for being up and doing to give the Federal Polytechnic Offa Alumni Association a befitting facelift. The Beginning
Recall that the inception of our administration gave birth to three years strategic plan, which serves as a roadmap and template to guide our activities and programs. And for this reason, I will have to give kudos to our board of trustees again as one of the brains behind this concept. In all sincerity, the three-year strategic plan with 9 key points have been helpful and became a key factor to our achievements so far. We thank God for what we have achieved out of the 9 programmes in the plan and some of them will be further highlighted.
Mentorship Program
Distinguished colleagues, in a bid to sensitize the graduating students of the Polytechnic, we organized an impactful mentorship programme to connect alumni with students; provide guidance, insight, and mentorship in various fields of study.
The mentorship programme brought together a diverse group of successful alumni who achieved significant milestones in their respective professions. These accomplished individuals used their time and expertise to inspire and guide the next generation of leaders from our Alma Mata The event highlighted the importance of mentorship in shaping the future careers of students and underscored the commitment of the association to facilitate the valuable learning experience. The giant benefit of this programme is that we were able to facilitate employment opportunities for some of the graduate of the Polytechnic.
Training of Alumni Staff and Heads of Units in the Polytechnic
Distinguished Alumni, in a bid to strengthen the overall institutional capacity of the Polytechnic to deliver premium, efficient, and effective quality service at all levels, we organized a one-day capacity building training for Staff of the Polytechnic.
The capacity building training tagged “Multi-Disciplinary Colloquium on Work Ethics and Staff Discipline” was carried out with focus on equipping staff of the Polytechnic with a strong work ethics and a strict commitment to discipline. This is not only to improve the capacity building but also to enhance the presence of alumni association in the Polytechnic community.
Endowment Support to the Polytechnic
As part of our endowment intervention, we donated a water pump to the Management for easy and smooth running of water system in the Polytechnic.
The electric water pump serves the Security Main Office, Medical Center, ASUP Secretariat, SSANIP Secretariat, and Alumni Secretariat simultaneously.
Also, we donated multimillion-naira worth drugs to the Polytechnic medical centre. This gesture was remarkably applauded by the Governing Council and the management as part of the necessary support to enhance the effectiveness of the medical centre to benefit our students and staff members by extension.
Relationship with the management and staff unions
Distinguished colleagues, we cannot deny the fact that alumni association is a relevant stakeholder in the Polytechnic as whatever happens within the system directly affect the alumni of the Polytechnic across the globe. In order to preserve our dignity and value, alumni association have been playing a good mediator between the management and the staff unions on campus for relative peace in the Polytechnic. We have been using our good office to relate mutually and harmoniously with the Management and staff unions.
Similarly, we have been able to achieve a seamless certificate and transcript processing to a large extent. Our dear members across the globe can process their transcript seamlessly, and it will be delivered. This was achieved through constant dialogue with the management, and we appreciate the management for their cooperation. Although, we are not relaxing to continuing to amend other lapses affecting the students and alumni of the Polytechnic. Establishment of Oke-ogun Chapter
Dear members, l’m so pleased to inform you that we are expanding and spreading tentacles on daily basis. We have been able to establish Federal Polytechnic Offa Alumni Association, Oke-ogun Chapter, Oyo State.
The new chapter of the Alumni Association is an avenue for the Federal Polytechnic Offa Alumni who are in Oke-Ogun to come together and deliberate on how to contribute to the development of the Federal Polytechnic Offa in collaboration with the National body of the Association.
Redesigning of Alumni Association Website
Dear comrades, you will agree with me that a working website is part of the facelift of any organisation or association. In tandem with this, we have been able to redesign our website with rich content about us, our various activities, our vision, mission and core values. We consider redesigning of this website as pertinent to further project our image to the outside world. You can log in on www.fedpoffalumni.org to check our website and read about our rich content. I want to use this opportunity to beseech our dear members to always notify the association media unit for any breakthroughs, achievements or any information about the Federal Polytechnic Offa Alumnus or Alumna. These are part of the reasons why we have a working and reachable website to project ourselves, our activities and our Alma Mata. The era of bad image and negative media is gone. We are ready to take charge and protect our integrity as products of this great citadel of learning.
22ND NIPOGA support and intervention by Alumni
It is no longer a news that our Alma Mata hosted 22nd NIPOGA edition for the first time in history of the Polytechnic under the leadership of Engr. Dr. Kadiri Kamoru Oluwatoyin FNSE. This NIPOGA event was adjudged as the best and most attended in the history of NIPOGA. While we give kudos to
the management on this feat, I am glad to register our significant impacts through donation of new jersey kits to our male football team which was used to play the final game and resulted to victory. Similary, the alumni association awarded both male and female teams with substantial cash to support and encourage the teams for their outstanding performances throughout the game. As a matter of fact, the name of Alumni Association will be written in gold when 22ND NIPOGA edition comes to mind in the history of the Federal Polytechnic Offa.
Educational Support for Members Running MSc and PhD Programmes
Dear esteemed colleagues, the alumni association’s endowment support was extended to some of our members running Msc and PhD programmes and students through scholarship. Like our slogan, we are better together.
Donation of Textbooks to Polytechnic Libraries
The Alumni Association led by this administration also extended the endowment support to the libraries on both campuses. Copies of textbooks were bought and donated to the Polytechnic Libraries. This gesture was equally applauded and appreciated by the Polytechnic management.
Representation at the Governing council level
Distinguished Alumni, when the new Governing Council was inaugurated and as a relevant stakeholder, the Alumni Association was well represented at the council level with constructive engagement on matters relating to the welfare of staff, students, alumni, and progress of the Polytechnic at large. This is the reason we are there, and we will continue to represent your interest judiciously. As one big family, we are open to suggestions, ideas, and deliberations that can be tabled up there for our collective interest.
The Awardees
Distinguished and honourable alumni, tonight’s awardees were nominated based on their personal good behaviors, right from their days in school till date, promoting their brands and crafts positively, representing our alma mata and Alumni in various capacities across the globe with honour at national and international level. The awards are never sponsored nor influenced by bias or material things. They were selected after careful consideration by the committee. Future Plans
Distinguished colleagues, as we’re not working blindly, we are keenly following our strategic plan and picking these programs one after the other. The current economic condition has been a threat to the flag off our legacy project which is hostel construction but we are still committed to achieving this and I believe with our collective efforts, it is achievable.
Before I bring this address to an end, I want to urge you all to intensify efforts on our legacy project which is hostel accommodation. Distinguished members, we want to utilise the opportunity of our coming together today to raise funds for the immediate commencement of the hostel. Our target for the fund raising is two hundred and fifty million naira (₦250,000,000) for the kick off of the facility.
Dear colleagues, I appreciate you all once again for the cooperation and support to lead this association. In all ramifications, we are better together. Thank you all for coming, thank you for listening and God bless you all.
Download the speech here
Rahman Ayuba
National President, the Federal Polytechnic Offa Alumni Association