Nigeria’s Senate has voted to let federal polytechnics award full bachelor’s degrees, a move that could finally narrow the long-resented gap between HND holders and university graduates.
Main photo: Linason Blessing / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
What the Senate changed
On Thursday, senators amended the Federal Polytechnic Act so that federal polytechnics can award the Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech Hons) degree in science, engineering and technology programmes. Until now, the law limited these institutions to the National Diploma (ND) and Higher National Diploma (HND).
The new route is open to holders of the ND, HND or a Postgraduate Diploma, but only where programmes are accredited by the National Universities Commission (NUC) and other relevant regulators, according to Premium Times.
To make the change, the Senate reversed its own earlier position that had kept polytechnics confined to diplomas.
How it happened
Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele, who represents Ekiti Central for the ruling APC, moved the motion. He told the chamber that sections 2, 8 and 31 of the Act needed further work to give the law administrative clarity and a complete legal framework, and asked for the Act to go back to the Committee of the Whole.
Two further changes came with it. Rectors will now be appointed by each polytechnic’s governing council for an initial five-year term, with the option of a second and final four-year term. The Act will also define the minister as the officer responsible for education.
No senator spoke against the amendments. Senate President Godswill Akpabio put them to a voice vote, and the ayes carried it.
Why it matters
For decades, HND holders in Nigeria have complained of being treated as second-class graduates. They have faced lower entry grades, slower promotion and, in some services, a ceiling on how far they can rise.
A 2018 federal circular allowed HND holders to enter the civil service at Grade Level 08, but moving beyond Grade Level 14 or into the officer cadre still carries extra conditions. In 2023, the House of Representatives raised concerns over alleged promotion disparities between HND and degree holders in the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps.
Nigeria needs engineers and technologists to build its economy. Giving polytechnic graduates a degree that carries equal weight could make these institutions more attractive to young Nigerians, and to employers at home and in the diaspora who hire Nigerian engineers and technologists.
What happens next
The real test will be outside the chamber. The value of the new B.Tech will depend on whether employers recognise it, and whether public service recruitment rules and schemes of service are revised to match.
DGBN will follow how the House of Representatives, the NUC and employers respond.