NANS urges Ogun to upgrade Gateway institute to polytechnic

The National Association of Nigerian Students has urged the Ogun State Government to convert the Gateway Industrial and Petro-Gas Institute in Oni, Ogun Waterside Local Government Area, from a monotechnic into a full-fledged polytechnic. NANS Secretary-General Oladimeji Uthman made the request in a statement on Sunday, citing what he described as prolonged neglect, inadequate funding and poor welfare for staff at the institution. Uthman said conversion would broaden the institute’s academic mandate, create room for the accreditation of additional courses and strengthen its ability to train workers for Ogun State and Nigeria’s industrial and petro-gas sectors.

He said the institute, established in 2008 by an Act of the Ogun State House of Assembly during the administration of former Governor Gbenga Daniel, had significant potential but was being held back by limited accreditation, insufficient funding and staff welfare problems. NANS commended Governor Dapo Abiodun for helping secure accreditation for two courses, but urged the government to extend the intervention to other programmes. Uthman said wider accreditation would be difficult to sustain without broader institutional reforms and adequate financing.

He also alleged that GIPI employees had remained on an outdated minimum-wage structure while other state workers benefited from successive wage reviews. He called for their integration into the appropriate state salary regime, arguing that staff welfare was directly connected to the quality of education. Uthman proposed a committee involving government agencies, management, staff representatives and students to prepare a conversion plan.

He said it should address accreditation, infrastructure, funding, recruitment and workers’ welfare, while positioning the institute to serve the industrial and maritime potential of the Ogun Waterside area.