From Darkness to Light: The Unbelievable Turnaround of Ogbonnaya Onu Polytechnic

A few years ago, Abia State Polytechnic looked like an institution that had completely lost its glory, almost dead and buried. Every new day came with another depressing headline: backlog of unpaid salaries, endless strikes by academic staff, students boycotting exams, and one negative report after another. Abia Poly, now known as Ogbonnaya Onu Polytechnic, became synonymous with everything that could go wrong in an educational institution.

I still remember my days at the University of Uyo. Each time I travelled from Aba to Uyo, I would see large groups of Akwa Ibom students returning home from Abia Poly. And on my way back to Aba to join Luxury bus going to Kano where my parents lived, I saw the same sight: dozens of Akwa Ibom students heading back to school at Abia Poly. That was how vibrant the institution once was.

[caption id="attachment_197391" align="alignnone" width="813"] Ogbonnaya Onu Polytechnic[/caption]

Then, slowly but steadily, everything collapsed. The decline reached a point where Akwa Ibom students who once made up a significant portion of the school's population stopped coming entirely. The institution was, in every sense of the word, finished.

But today, the story has taken a dramatic turn. A school once written off is now rising again, reclaiming its place as an institution worth celebrating.

This once again proves a timeless truth: failure begins and ends with leadership. When the leadership foundation is wrong, everything else crumbles. But when the leadership is right, every other component aligns.

Since the emergence of Dr. Alex Otti as Governor of Abia State, the narrative of Abia Poly has undergone total transformation. Backlogs of salaries paid. Workers now receive their pay promptly. And, most importantly, the right leadership structure has been installed to reposition the school for excellence.

The governor understands something many leaders overlook: you cannot be everywhere at once, and you cannot deliver results without competent hands. That is why he appointed Dr. Christopher Okoro Kalu as Rector of Ogbonnaya Onu Polytechnic, a decision that has proven to be a masterstroke.

Today, a school that had not held convocation for years is now conducting convocation ceremonies back-to-back. Public confidence has returned. Students are trooping in again, this time in even greater numbers.

Our Abia Poly our Ogbonnaya Onu Polytechnic is back. And I am genuinely happy.

[caption id="attachment_197392" align="alignnone" width="485"] Ogbonnaya Onu Polytechnic[/caption]

I am Emenike Jason Iroegbu,

Publisher, All Facts Newspaper (formerly Abia Facts Newspaper).