By Alli Abiola:
When many of the immediate past students of Higher National Diploma of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, ogun State, Southwest Nigeria, gained admission about three years ago, they never thought they would spend three years on a course that shouldn’t be more than one year and seven months.
Many of them came to MAPOLY in November 2016 with high hopes as they all believe that by November 2018, the school would mobilize them for National Youth Service Corp.
Some of them who have begun to earn a living after the end of their National Diploma in 2015, left everything to come back to Abeokuta so that they could become an HND graduates.
With pains, sacrifices, and stress, they began the journey into the HND programme smoothly around November 2016. Few months after, they did their first semester examination around March, 2017 and they were hopeful that by October 2017, they would be in the final laps.
Nobody among them would ever thought that the journey that was going smoothly at the beginning would become so hard at the middle that it took the interference of powerful people and prayers before they could write their second semester exam almost a year after they have written the first semester.
It was a battle between the then ‘powerful’ governor of Ogun state, Senator Ibikunle Amosun and the architect of the students’ life for two years (lecturers) over the conversion of MAPOLY to Moshood Abiola University of Science and Technology and establishment of State polytechnic at Ipokia.
While the lecturers were fighting for their legitimate right as stakeholders, the governor was adamant in relocating the polytechnic with all the lecturers to Ipokia.
After many consultations which did not yield good results, on September 16, 2017, the lecturers under the Aegis of Academic Staff Union of Polytechnic embarked on a three months strike which begins on the day the students supposed to start their second semester examination.
Even after negotiations and resolutions between the government and the lecturers after the stroke, things have not remained the same in the Polytechnic as Academic Calendar was no more working with the normal year, but, the year the lecturers want it to work it.
Since then, releasing of results, mobilization of students for NYSC have become a difficult task that students need to go spiritual before.
Speaking with some of the students, they expressed displeasure over the delay.
The outgone students lamented that the delay has affected their mobilization for NYSC since they graduated in March 2019.
A student identified as Bolaji said, “I am tired of the situation of things, MAPOLY has failed to release our result.
“Nobody is ready to employ you without result and they have also failed to mobilize us for NYSC.
“We don’t know the way forward, they should just let us go”.
Also, a student’s identified as Bolu said, “I am running away from people at home because they are already thinking I have extra year and that was why I have not gone for service.
“My parents are not ready to spend on me again and MAPOLY had failed to mobilize us.
“Governor Abiodun should come to our aid and assist us so that we can do better things with our life.” the student pleaded.
