President Goodluck Jonathan and the Rector, Lagos State Polytechnic, Abdulazeez Lawal, are leaders and administrators in their own right.

While Jonathan as the political head of the country is due to hand over the reins of power on Friday, May 29, Lawal, the head of the over 30-year-old Lagos State-owned tertiary institution, is to vacate the leadership of the school the next day, Saturday, May 30.

The two are also academics and PhD holders. These, however, are not all that they have in common. Like Jonathan who, the other day, claimed that politics had caged him for 16 years, the LASPOTECH rector also posits that running the affairs of the polytechnic has cooped him for some years now.

Lawal says, “I do not want to return as the rector. I have an opportunity to seek another term but I don’t want to return. I have been in cage for four years now and I don’t want to continue with this cagey situation.

“I want to return to my natural habitat – consultancy and teaching. Before now, I travelled a lot, just as I consulted for many professional bodies and taught in many tertiary institutions. Those engagements were no longer possible because of my appointment.

“Again, did you know that my appointment as a rector is accidental? I was literally forced to apply for the position. I only had a little and hurriedly prepared, blueprint that enabled me to attend the different interview sessions for the position. In fact, I set up a think-tank committee and prepared a strategic plan on the way forward for the institution only after I became the rector. All of these point to the fact that I was not desperate for the position.”

Did that affect his performance in office? Lawal, who is also the Chief Imam of the school, said, “No.” According to him, the records are there for all interested stakeholders to check and verify.

Besides ensuring a stable academic environment, the outgoing rector notes that his leadership inaugurated many initiatives that turned around the fortunes of the institution. From the provision of Information and Communications Technology, increased internally generated revenue, improved quality education to a cult-free environment, among others, Lawal posits that he has enough reasons to score his tenure a good grade.”

For an institution that receives monthly allocation of about N153m from the state government, how did he achieve all these? Lawal, who is the author of a business book, titled Management in Focus, points to internally generated revenue as his administration’s redeeming feature.

From the several initiatives that he inaugurated, Lawal says, the school gets between N70m and N80m IGR every month to support whatever subvention it receives from the authorities.

The rector, who particularly hails the state government and the TETFund, notes that the special grant from TETFund enabled his administration to carry out many projects, including accreditation of courses in the school.

The school, he adds, has been faithful in accessing the TETFund allocation and using it in executing major projects.

“Today, we have in the school a bakery, state-of-the-art lecture theatre for the School of Agriculture, and 700-capacity lecture theatre, among many other projects, courtesy of TETFund,” he notes.

Reacting to allegations of high-handedness and embezzlement preferred against him, the outgoing rector dismisses that with a wave of the hand.

He notes, “Well, if you accuse me of being a disciplined person, I will agree with you; but for high-handedness, you can count me out. Due to my good working relationship with the majority of the workers, it will be right to describe my tenure as a peaceful one.

“I have been faithful in paying their salaries, remitting their pensions, as well as ensuring that those deserving of training within and outside of the country received their dues.

“I provided the best of good teaching and learning environment in the school and this explains why I have good relationship with ASUP, SSANIP and NASU, among other unions in the school.

“This was not the situation when I took over in 2011. In fact, on assumption of office, I inherited huge liabilities and dilapidated infrastructure. I also had a few PhD holders in the school then; but today, there are more than 10 PhD holders teaching in the school. Again, I cannot remember whether my tenure witnessed any case of cultism.”

Even as the stakeholders look forward to the appointment of another rector from June 1, Lawal has a word of advice for the government. He counsels the authorities not to appoint his successor based on sentiment, noting that the position is not just for any Awori, Ikorodu or Epe man. In his thinking, the government should appoint the most competent among the contenders to continue to lead the school to loftier heights.

He, nonetheless, adds that the authorities should take good recruitment steps to ensure that the best candidate heads the school in the next five years.

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