We must tackle our challenges with skills, technology— YABATECH Rector

The Rector, Yaba College of Technology , Engineer Femi Omokungbe has said any technical institution must be able to tackle challenges using skills and technology.Omokungbe who stated this on Monday during a press conference to announced the institution’s 32nd convocation slated for November 16 – 22nd, said technology is the global tool for development.

According to him, the convocation lecture titled, Sustainability of Technological Advancement: A key to Industrial Growth will be delivered by the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN). “It’s our responsibility as a technology-based and foremost institution to create the platform for an academic discourse to address the challenges arising from our national quest for development”, he said adding ” the trend today globally is toward achieving development without depleting natural resources”.

The convocation ceremony scheduled for November 22, he noted will see the graduating Class of 2016/17 totalling 7,170 graduands, awarded National and Higher National Diploma of the college.

Asked about his plans for the building gutted by fire few years ago, Omokungbe disclosed that plans are in top gear to pull down the remnant of the female hostel.He explained that there are procedures and processes involved in addressing such matters explaining that when a building is gutted by fire, you need to do an assessment of the structural integrity to actually know if that building can actually stand or probably, needs to be demolished.He said: ”We have carried out the structural integrity and we want to report that the building has failed that test and of course, what is important for us is to demolish it. We have brought in experts to do the soil analysis of that area and we have come up with a new design to have a hostel put in place. We are faced with the issue of accommodation and we are committed to solving it”.