One Year in Office: Pioneer Ogun Poly Rector, Dr. Tunji Sonola Visits MAPOLY, Commends Jolaoso's Repositioning Agenda

By: Olufemi Orunsola 

Less than 24 hours after the Rector, Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta, Arc. Dr. Babatunde Koye Jolaoso delivered a commemorative broadcast on MAPOLY Radio, the pioneer Rector of the Polytechnic, Dr. Tunji Sonola has paid a visit to the Rector, who led him to the campus radio station for an interactive session with the Polytechnic community.

OPEN TELEVISION NAIJA (OTN) News reports that the first Rector of the then Ogun State Polytechnic, who is now an octogenarian, on Thursday, visited the Rector in his office.

Arc. Dr. Jolaoso, who warmly received the pioneer Rector in the company of the institution's Deputy Rector, Dr. Mrs. Yetunde Lanre-Iyanda, thereafter, thought it prudent to lead the octogenarian to the campus radio station located inside the Sonola building named after the pioneer Rector of the Polytechnic -Dr.Tunji Sonola.

Dr. Sonola, who expressed his utmost surprise at what he described as an ambush laid for him by the Rector, said, "I only came to pay a private visit to the Rector, not knowing I would be led to see the campus Radio station", adding that he was very much impressed to see the level of progress and giant strides of the little seed he was privileged to have been part of those who planted and watered it at its earliest but has now grown into the established tree of knowledge.

In his words, "I feel eternally grateful that the little effort we made those years have taken roots and now making waves all across the state, country, and the entire world."

Dr. Sonola, who recalled with a sense of nostalgia how the first Governor of Ogun state, Chief Olabisi Onabanjo, who was a journalist, supported him to start the Department of Mass Communication at the Polytechnic, noting that from the very stratch, Mass Communication became a flagship programme of the Polytechnic that was oversubscribed to by admission seekers.

He further revealed that the pioneer Governor of Ogun state, Chief Onabanjo, actually established the state-owned media houses to serve as practical training grounds for students studying Mass Communication at the state-owned Polytechnic.

The octogenarian former Rector commended the strides attained by the Arc Dr Jolaoso noting that he was not disappointed at all when he heard about the institutional repositioning efforts put in place by the Rector.

Dr. Tunji Sonola concluded his live interactive radio interview session by counselling all critical stakeholders to join hands together to move the Polytechnic to enviable heights, noting that the Polytechnic actually has more than enough land mass required to float both a Polytechnic and a University just like it obtains in Ibadan where University of Ibadan and Polytechnic Ibadan coexist, merely sharing a thin border line.