Federal Poly Nekede Rector Basilia Igbokwe Unveils Progress Report at First Anniversary
The accolades that trailed the one year in office celebration of the Rector of Federal Polytechnic Nekede, Owerri, Dr. Basilia Igbokwe on Thursday, December 4, 2025 was nothing short of genuine appreciation to her unwavering dedication to service as well as achievements as she marked the day with Thanksgiving service amid Christmas Carol Funfair among others at the Polytechnic 1000-Capacity Auditorium.
The mega event however attracted all and sundry in the Polytechnic community as well as education stakeholders in the state with the Commissioner, Ministry of Housing, Urban Renewal and New Cities Development, Hon. Bede Eke as chairman of the occasion.
The highlights of the multi-phased event included thanksgiving, prayer offers for the Rector and management team, cutting of cake, Christmas Carol and spoken words renditions, as well as award presentation to outstanding individuals of the institution in the Best Student, Most Proactive Staff, Most Punctual Staff, Most Well-Dressed Staff, Best HOD, Best Dean of Schools, Best Director, Best Deputy Registrar, Best Bursary Staff, Most Respectful Staff and Best Driver categories.
Addressing news men in a pre-event press conference at the high-powered programme, the Rector, Dr. Igbokwe said the reason for the occasion was to return honour to God Almighty for seeing her through the year as she highlighted her face-lift achievements in the institution.
“We are marking my one-year in office, which has actually gone by two months or thereabouts.
But today, we are doing a Thanksgiving service for what God has done for us so far and for successful tenure for the past one year.
“I’m also doing Christmas Carols, Solemn Assembly today, as well as award giving for best staff, so that is why I decided to bring people together, to highlight some of the achievements of this administration in the last one year.
Dr. Igbokwe said the institution has achieved success stories, adding that her 11-point agenda is centred on human-focused development across boards.
“In the past year, I have made significant strides as the 9” substantive Rector of Federal Polytechnic Nekede, Owerri, transforming the institution into a hub of academic excellence and innovation. Since assuming office on September 10, 2024, I have driven remarkable progress in academic excellence, infrastructure development, digital transformation, student welfare, and institutional security.
“Let me start from infrastructure. We renovated most of the hostels. In fact, by the time I assumed duty, the hostels were nothing to write home about. But if you go there now, most of the hostels; Hostel A, B, G and so on are all renovated. Now, the other ones that are not renovated, we are having total remodeling of the hostels, like Hostel E that have not been in use for over decades. We are able to remove the total remodeling of that hostel and another one in Hostel B. We are doing total remodeling of those areas. We’ve also gone ahead to revitalize most of the IGR projects, like this one.
“The water factory that was not in existence when I assumed duty is now fully operational. The tissue factory is also functional.
And recently, just last month, we started a printing press because I don’t want a situation where we just take a printing outside this place so that all the things to be printed here by the institution, the staff and so on will be done here.
“In the area of farming, we have now started the poultry farm, the fish farm and so on.
In fact, we are now starting a greenhouse. We’ve already signed an MOU with the people with the body in question.
The Rector further stressed that her leadership through effective communication, streamlined operations and accountability have recorded Improved academic programs, increased research output, and enhanced curriculum development as well as
upgraded facilities, modernized classrooms, and expanded campus infrastructure, Implemented digital solutions for teaching, learning, and administration, including enhanced student support services, improved campus life, increased student
engagement, strengthened security measures, and ensuring a safe and secure campus environment, strengthened healthy workplace practices and policies among others.
“We decided to have ICT short-term courses, skilled acquisition centres. And we are trying to have an integrated system because we discovered that students will just finish, writing an exam, their results will not be seen anywhere. We want to have an integrated system. We just want to have a unified system where everything about the institution will be unified”
The Rector who could not contain her challenges said insecurity and inadequate funding are her major setbacks while appreciating Governor Uzodimma and Wife alongside the 13th governing Council Chairman, Hon. Henry Ikoh, and officials of the Federal Ministry of Education for their resounding support.
“On a very sad note, I inherited an institution that had lost its glory as the most sought-after Polytechnic in Nigeria. The challenges were daunting: a debt profile of over 4 billion naira, backlog of unpaid staff claims, and contractors being owed for projects completed. Very dirty and unkept environment, dilapidated students’ hostel buildings, almost complete neglect of welfare of staff leading to lack of motivation and poor attitude to work. The internal revenue generation units were
dormant, and there was a backlog of institution graduates waiting to be mobilized for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC). Furthermore, the Academic Staff Union leaders, both at the national and chapter levels, were uncooperative, with numerous petitions against my administration all
sponsored to malign my administration. These challenges, among others, seemed insurmountable, but I was determined to address therm head-on.
“Today, I am proud to report that we have made significant strides in addressing the challenges facing our institution. We have cleared a significant portion of the debt profile, paid staff claims, and settled contractors. We have revitalized the internal revenue generation units, renovated students’ hostels, and our graduates are now being mobilized for NYSC. We have also improved staff welfare, leading to improved motivation and attitude to work.
“I acknowledge the support of the Council Chairman, Hon. Chief Henry Iko, and members of the 15th Governing Council, for their unwavering support and cooperation. I also appreciate the dedication of my Management Team, members of the Management Committee, Heads of Departments and units, various supportive and cooperative staff and students Union on campus. I thank our students, who have been our greatest asset, and our partners, who have supported us on this journey.
“I express my gratitude to the Honourable Minister of Education, the Honourable Minister of State for Education, and the Director Tertiary and entire staff of the Ministry of Education. I also appreciate the support of the Executive Secretary of the National Board for Technical Education, TETFUND, and other stakeholders in the educational sub-sector.
“My special appreciation goes to the Executive Governor of Imo State, His Excellency Distinguished Senator Hope Odidika Uzodinma, and his dear wife, Her Excellency Barr. Mrs Chioma Uzodinma, for their unwavering support. I also thank the Deputy Governor, Her Excellency Dr. Mrs Chinyere Ekomaru, and the Hon. Commissioner for Rural Development, Chief Oruh, for their contributions to our success”, Dr. Igbokwe concluded.