Nasarawa Poly Students Protest Non-accreditation Of Courses, Extortion

Thousands of students of Nasarawa State Polytechnic, Lafia, barricaded the Lafia/Akwanga highway protesting the non-accreditation of courses and gross extortion in the institution.

The students who were also joined by former students of the institution carried placards with different inscriptions – “No course is accredited”, “We are tired of stories”, “Our certificate is not recognized”, among others.

Narrating their ordeal to Northern City News in an interview, the students’ spokesman, Mr Umar Abdullahi, explained that the school authorities imposed a N2,000 levy on each student for accreditation.

He added that despite the levy, the school had yet to receive accreditation since 2013.

According to him, all the courses lost accreditation in 2013, noting that the school management was not making efforts to address the challenge.

“Graduates from the institution were finding it difficult to get admission to other institutions for further studies or employment because their certificates were not acceptable,” Abdullahi stated.

The protesting students demanded the immediate sacking of the management of the institution, insisting that no lecture would hold until their demands were met.

The students were, however, subsequently pacified by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Abdullahi Agwai, and security personnel.

Agwai assured that students that the government would do everything possible to address the issue of courses’ accreditation at the NSP.

He said the government was not happy with the accreditation levy imposed on the students by the school authorities.

“We will investigate and get to the root of the matter for prompt action,” Agwai promised.

The acting Rector of the polytechnic, Augustine Ali-Gabu, declined to comment when contacted for reaction.

PUNCH