By; JACOB ONJEWU DICKSON
About eight years ago, Ambassador Sharifudeen Ibrahim Muhammad (Dan Jarida), conceived the idea of having Mass Comm Alumni Association of Kaduna Polytechnic. Expectedly, doubting Thomases laughed at the Idea, saying different things on different perspectives. Some of the naysayers expressed their reservations on the premise that to what extent does the formation of such a union would differ from the existing departmental Alumni Associations in other institutions across the country.
However, the narrative changed completely over the weekend when the professional communicators and other academic dons gathered at the historic Sardauna Hall of Hamdala Hotel, Kaduna for the first edition of Lecture and Award conferment by the now KadPoly Mass Communication Alumni Association (KAMASSCAA).
The Chairman of the occasion, Commander, KADVS/SAD Internal Security, Kaduna State Brigadier General U. M. Ibrahim (Rtd), declared the event open with a brief address, thanking all the people that spare time to attend the programme from far and near, inpite of their tight schedules. He also commended the organisers of such a timely programme.
The chief host for the occasion, Honourable Abba Anas Adamu, welcomed the gathering to the auspicious event, saying that alumni associations everywhere had continued to occupy enviable positions in the affairs of tertiary institutions of the alma mater. Hon. Adamu who is currently serving his second term as the National President of Kaduna Polytechnic Alumni Association, explained the importance of having formidable alumni associations at the departmental levels in the polytechnic.
He said if properly articulated and goal-oriented, alumni at the departmental levels would facilitate quick coordination for any move and programme of the national association.
The National President added that under his stewardship from 2019 to date, the national alumni of the polytechnic had been able to reorganize the structure of the association, saying that the polytechnic alumni “now has executives in 20 states of the federation.”
He, however, emphasized that the Association’s coverage in the southern part of the country was still a challenge as compared to the northern part where it has absolute coverage.
The National President also lamented that one of the major challenges confronting the association was lack of zeal and nonparticipation of prominent individuals who are currently occupying important positions in various sectors. Honourable Adamu alerted the Department of Mass Communication Alumni to be ready to address such a challenge about their own alumni.
The National President concluded his remarks by commending the organizers of the programme particularly, the founder and coordinator.
In a paper presentation, the Vice Chancellor of the federal University of Kashere, Gombe State, who was the guest speaker and special guest of honour of the occasion, Professor Umaru A. Pate, ably represented by another seasoned Scholar from the Kaduna State University (KASU) Kaduna, Professor Bashir Ali, said alumni associations had a long history and significance in all over the world. He said globally, universities and institutions of higher learning had identified the necessity and relevance of maintaining cordial relationship with their alumni associations for the purposes of contributing greatly to the status, welfare and progress of the institutions.
Prof. Ali emphasised that it was a fact that alumni association influenced public perceptions of their tertiary institutions by representing their institutions in industries and other sectors of the economy.
For that reason, there was a need for stakeholders to promote strong and mutual relationship among members, the guest speaker stressed.
The professor also said that according to available data by the college of census, the top five global universities with the best alumni associations in terms of advancement and support for education were: Christarm University, Stanford University, Harvard University, Hapast College and Brown University. According to the speaker, these universities alumni associations had produced President and Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States of America.
The guest speaker reiterated that one of the most important reasons for creating an alumni association was to protect the image and reputation of an institution and connecting students of the institution to current graduates for mentorship.
Enumerating the main objectives of an alumni association, Professor Bashir Ali listed amongst others; providing assistance to the institution, promoting interaction among members, and so on. He also clarified that membership of alumni association was automatic for all categories of students that passed through the institution, irrespective of the duration spent in the institution for a specific programme.
He said it could be a holder of Diploma, Degrees or Certificates. He said only dismissed students were not eligible for an alumni association.
On the duties of alumni association globally, the special guest of honour identified formal dinner event, reunion, organising donations, award of scholarships, sponsoring research, fund raising, and mentorship, etc, as what alumni association champion wherever it exists.
The speaker said gone are the days when different groups of old students came together to form an association for mutual benefits of members and that of the institutions.
Those informal groups according to him, had existed in Nigeria, and in fact elsewhere, prior to the formation of formal alumni association in Nigeria with the University of Ibadan been the first university in the country to launched the noble association and consequently implemented laudable projects and programmes for their alma mater.
Prof. Ali charged the Department of Mass Communication and the KadPoly Mass Communication Alumni Association to establish relationship towards attaining more and more academic excellence that will guarantee good results from the products of the department, adding that only on such ground would the students be proud and commit themselves to the progress and upliftment of not just the Department but also the Institution at large.
The special guest of honour, in his presentation, also said that alumni associations in Nigeria had continue to gather a lot of attentions through their activities, citing an example of a worthwhile contribution by the alumni association of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria which he said, was able to successfully partner with relevant organisations to raise 50 billion naira endowment fund for the university.
The association also constructed hostels, as well as providing teaching and learning materials for the institution such as computers, organized inter faculty soccer competitions, construction of classroom, and so on
Similarly, Prof. Bashir said, the most notable achievement of an alumnus in Nigeria today was that of the faculty of medicine, University of Ibadan by the name of Professor Philip O. who singlehandedly donated one million dollars to the institution.
He challenged Kaduna Polytechnic Alumni Association and the alumnus too, to do the same for the Polytechnic.
In the same vein, the speaker said that alumni associations had also continued to enjoy adequate representation at national and international fora on educational symposia.
He said such relevance could be linked to the recently amended Act mandating governing councils to incorporate alumni associations into the management of institutions.
Some of the challenges faced by alumni associations according to the guest speaker were; members who turn the association to an alternative government or opposition against the tertiary institution management, breach of trust and financial misuse, building a cartel for the purposes of corruption, lack of sufficient funds to run the association, poor database of alumni members, and so on.
Prof. Ali equally proffered some solutions to the challenges enumerated above. He said one of the ways to addressing the problems was to ensure that the association is in tune with the 21st century reality by reaching out to wide range of members and stakeholders for meetings and interactions through one or more platforms of social media so as to gather more support locally and internationally.
Again, Alumni association leaders should be carefully scrutinised and there should be adequate information on sources and management of funds; and also members must be encouraged to contribute financially to the association.
In his remarks, the Head of Department of Mass Communication, Dr. Gambo Ibrahim Ahmad said KadPoly Mass Communication Alumni must asked themselves what contributions were they making to the Department or the institution.
He alluded to a rare contribution of an alumnus, who was former Managing Director of New Nigeria Newspaper, by the name of Mallam Haruna Muhammad who taught in the Department for almost two years without receiving a dime.
He added that there should be a synergy between the Department and the Industry such that the alumni members with higher qualifications could render voluntary teaching to complement the efforts of the lecturers either in the classrooms, studios or on the tables.
The Rector of Kaduna Polytechnic, Dr. Sulaiman Umar, represented by the Director of Polytechnic Advancement, Dr. Mohammed Attahiru Abdullahi, said the Polytechnic holds the Department of Mass Communication in high esteem.
According to him, that is why the institution is building a new complex for the department as well as making sure that the Spider Radio, an extension of the department, never ceases to be on air, in spite of challenges.
He commended the organisers of the programme and thanked KAMASSCAA for the awards given to the Polytechnic.
In his address, the pioneer coordinator of Kadpoly Mass Communication Alumni Association, Ambassador Sharifudeen Ibrahim Muhammad (Dan Jarida) said It gladdened his heart to see everyone at the ceremony, adding that the idea to create the association was conceived about eight years ago, when he and a few other KAMASSCAA members like Noah Olusegun Kolade, attended some alumni programmes and witnessed how they supported their departments through donations of equipment and so on.
Awards of honour and that of excellence were given to over 80 distinguished individuals and institutions for their immense contributions towards the development and progress of the department.
These awards were categorised into three groups below:
Category (A), Award of Honour.
The recipients were, Kaduna Polytechnic, Hon. Abba Anas Adamu, National President Kaduna Polytechnic Alumni Association. Late Malam Hadi Auwal, First ASUP, National President, Alhaji Yusuf Buhari, Mr Samson Fagbemi, Mr Joshua Maigari, Dr Ibrahim Ganiyu Saleeman, Malam Aliyu Suleiman, Mr Bankole Isiaka, Dr Kamar Jimoh, Deputy Dean School of Social Sciences and Dr Gambo Ibrahim Ahmad, Head of Department, Mass Communication.
Category (B), Award of Excellence as Ambassadors of the department went to the following: Mr. Samuel Aruwan, Commissioner, Internal Security and Home Affairs, Kaduna State. Hon. Musa Abdullahi Krishi, Brig. Gen. U. Ibrahim (Rtd), Malam Dahiru Ahmed, late Imam D. Imam , Mr Godwin B. Ayegba, Hajiya Maryam Ahmadu-Suka, Alhaji Baba Usman Halilu, Malam Haruna Shehu Mararaban-Jos, Malam Zahradeen Umar Dutse Kura, Malam Shuaibu Sani Bagwai, Malam Aliyu Abdullahi Tanko, Malam Babangida Aliyu Abdullahi, Malam Nura Madam, Alhaji Isa Gusau, Alhaji Aminu Gusau, Alh. Abubakar Yusuf Ladan, Dr. Idris Musa Barnawa, Alh. Ismail Omipidan, Comrade Adamu Yusuf, Comrade John Femi Adi, Malam Aminu Sani Sado, Mal. Abdulgafar Alabelewe, Malam Ismail Mudashir of Daily Trust, Malam Ibrahim Shehu Adamu of Trust Tv, Alhaji Aliyu Bello, Capt. Mohammed Isah Yahaya, Dr Benjamin Emmanuel Omale, Mr Turaki Hassan, Mal. Shuaibu Abdullahi, Mal. Mohammed Abdullahi, Mal. Mohammed Saleh Shettima, Dr Ahmed Lawal Gusau, Evangelist Mordecai Sunday Ibrahim, Malam Musa Lawal, Mal. Sagir Muhammad Auwal, Haj. Fatima Mamman Abdulkadir, Alh. Abdullahi Mohammed Moshood, Malam Musa Aliyu Gombe, Malam Lawal Isa Ikara, Mr Noah Ebije, Comr. Umar Mohammed, Mal. Ismaila Usman, Mal. Rabiu Ibrahim Tuge, Mal. Sani Auwal, Mr Jacob Onjewu Dickson, Hajiya Amina Mohammed, Mr Noah Olusegun Kolade and Mal. Nasiru Lawal Abubakar.
And finally the Category C Awadees were, Rt. Hon. Yusuf Ibrahim Zailani, Speaker, Kaduna State House of Assembly, Hon. Aliyu Achili Mohammed Kachan, Hon. Garba Hussaini Dankanjiba, member Representing Kafur Constituency, Katsina State House of Assembly, Hon. Dr Jibrin Lawal Tafida, Prince Muhammad Kadade Suleiman, National Youth Leader PDP, ACP Usman Musa Shugaba, ADC to the First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Hon. Mukhtar Baloni, Executive Chairman, Kaduna North, Local Government, Hon. Jabir Khamis Rigasa, Executive Chairman, Igabi Local Government, Hon. Hussaini Abdulkarim Mai Kero, .Dr. Mohammed Audu, Engr. Ahmed Ismaila, Comrade Abdulwajeed Obomeghie, Hon Salasi Musa Nuhu, Executive Chairman, Chikun Local Government, Hon. Francis Anguwa Sani, Executive Chairman Zangon Kataf Local Government, Abubakar Mainasara Concern, Alhaji Nuhu Muhammad Marghi, Alhaji Suleiman Garba MD Hamdala Hotel, Hon. Hussaini Danladi, PA to the Minister of Agriculture, Amb. Aminu Haruna Mepampo, Mal. Faruk Musa Ndamadu, Dean Students Affairs of Kaduna Polytechnic, Sir Jalal Falal, Hon. Yusouf Umar Garkuwa and Hon. Haruna Shehu Badikko.
