By Julius Oweh
The Shakespearean logic of greatness is anchored on a tripod: some are born, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them. The story of Prof Emmanuel Achuenu, the Rector of Delta State Polytechnic, Ogwashi Uku is a classic case of a man who through his grey matters was able to achieve greatness and could today comfortably sit in the midst of the academic and political elites. Born in the rustic village of Utue-Ogume in Ndokwa West local government areas of Delta State, young Achuenu developed unusual passion for education. That made him to get distinction in secondary school external examinations which propelled him to the prestigious University of Jos. He had all his degrees, first, Masters and Ph.D in that university becoming a leading authority in construction management. It is on record that he became the NUC winner 2000 postgraduate Thesis Award Scheme. He was also the best Ph.D Thesis holder in 2001. He started lecturing at University of Jos in 1990 and over the years rose through the ranks to reach the pinnacle of academic standards as a professor in 2008. A chartered builder, member of Nigerian Institute of Building, a seasoned scholar who had written academic papers for a variety of national and international journals.
It was perhaps this sterling academic background that made the Governor of Delta State , Senator Ifeanyi Okowa to appoint Achuenu in 2021 July as the rector of the polytechnic. A man not given to too much talk, on his resumption in Ogwashi-Uku, he extended the olive branch to both staff and students. His sentiments in 2021 :I am a man of peace and I came in peace to restore peace to the institution and peace to the immediate polytechnic community at large. And since August 1, 2021, the environment of the school has not only been peaceful but witnessed tremendous achievements in academic standards, infrastructural development and training and retraining of staff. His landmarks achievements for twelve months running are visible in the provinces of good administration and physical development of the polytechnic and entrenching the culture of between the gown and town.
The list is inexhaustible. Some of them are restoration of peace in the campus, making it a fertile environment for teaching, learning, research and development. The accreditation of the new school of environmental sciences by NBTE to run courses like Building Technology, Urban and Regional Planning. Outstanding is the commissioning of the polytechnic ultra-modern solar energy training centre (renewable energy centre). This feat is very important because of the epileptic nature of power supply in the country. Equally commendable was the stepping down of 33KVA transformer.
In human capital development and making the products of the polytechnic employers of labour, he was able to secure N-Build training programme centre to produce a new crop of skilled and highly competent workforce of technicians, artisans and service professionals in carpentry, electrical installation, plumbing and fitting, and phone repairs. It is worthy of note that first edition is successfully completed.
In the areas of ICT and the new media, there is a Microsoft Training centre for both staff and students to run course in Microsoft Technology Certification. Computer literacy is the vogue and the rector`s voyage into this area should be commended as that would peak the teaching and learning standards in the school. It must be noted here that the rosy relationship between the rector and the Ministry of Higher Education had attracted a lot of development to the school and the construction of the internal roads is one of the many projects going on in the campus.
Some students and staff who spoke to be this reporter said that the school had never have it that good and they encouraged the rector to continue in the stride of bringing innovations and unequalled developments to the school for the benefits of all, including the host, Ogwashi-Uku community.
