Federal Polytechnic, Bida in Niger State says arrangements have been concluded to introduce degree programmes in the institution.

Chairman of the Governing Board, Professor Mohammed Yahaya, made this known when he led members of the board on a visit to Etsu Nupe, Yahaya Abubakar, in Bida on Saturday.

The polytechnic began operation in 1977 following the decision of the Federal Government of Nigeria to move the Federal College of Technology, Kano, to Bida with J. W. Brooks, a Canadian, appointed on Sept. 5, 1977 as its first Principal.

Bida College of Technology, as it was called then, commenced its first academic session in April 1978 with 211 students and a staff strength of 11 senior and 33 junior staff members.

The board chairman said all the relevant agencies of government had approved the undergraduate programmes.

Yahaya, who described the polytechnic as one of the best in the country, said the new board had resolved to take it to greater heights.

While assuring Etsu Nupe of the council’s readiness to work with the host community, he pledged to improve on the achievements of the institution.

He thanked the host community for the cordial relationship it had established with the institution since its inception.

Etsu Nupe and Chairman, Niger State Council of Traditional Rulers, urged the ‎board to live up to its billing and promised to sustain the support of the council toward the growth of the school.

The Federal Government had in May inaugurated new governing boards for its tertiary institutions.

NAN