The Federal Science Equipment Centre ( FSEC) Ijanikin, Lagos State through the Federal Ministry of Education has chosen the Federal Polytechnic Offa, Kwara State as host of capacity building workshop programme for its staff.
The programme which commenced on October 26 2020 at the Polytechnic Mini Campus is driven at promoting locally made equipments in the area of Science and Technology.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Director of Federal Science Equipment Centre, Engr. Yekini Ismaila commended the Polytechnic Management led by Dr. Lateef Olatunji for creating a conducive environment that accommodate such workshop for national development and acknowledged the kind gesture shown towards the Federal Science Equipment Centre team from Ijanikin, Lagos State.
According to him: “On behalf of the Honourable Minister, I appreciate the Rector for accepting us with with open hands which shows that the Polytechnic is concerned about national development. Meanwhile, the aim of this workshop is for participants to familiarise themselves with locally available raw materials and use them to improvise some of the laboratory equipments we are having in our laboratories. Instead of spending huge amount of money for the importation of those equipments, they are the things we can make and manufacture locally.”
In his remarks, the Rector, Dr. Lateef Olatunji appreciated the Federal Ministry of Education for considering the Polytechnic worthy and capable of hosting the participants for the workshop.
He said: ” It is a great privilege that our institution has been chosen by the Federal Ministry of Education to host this workshop for proper training and capacity building of the Federal Science Equipment Centre (FSEC) staff. Of course, this is inline with the Federal Government’s efforts to encourage the production of made in Nigeria goods and equipments to increase science, technology and mathematics education and also to safe foreign exchange for the country by reducing the importation of scientific and technical equipments.”
While making reference to the emergence of Covid-19 in the World, the Rector emphasised on why it necessary for the country to be self-reliance in the area of science and technology, he noted that some of the locally made solar powered and manual hand washing and sanitizing machines, hand sanitizer, liquid detergent and solar automated fumigation system were produced by some departments in the Polytechnic to combat the spread of coronavirus.
Speaking further, he said Federal Science Equipment Centre ( FSEC) training is put together to equip staff with skills and expertise, to produce and maintain locally made scientific and technical equipments, he therefore charged the participants to utilise the opportunity and pay rapt attention to all section of the workshop as the country is blessed with both material and human resources.
