Prof. Muoboghare gave the commendation at Ogwashi-Uku on Friday during his working visit to the institution to assess its challenges and find alternative source of revenue for the institutions.

He said that one of the ways to generate revenue outside the State Government, was to ‘think outside the box’and look into other sources, particularly when the institution had the facilities and equipment to achieve this.

The Commissioner expressed happiness that the Polytechnic had risen to the occasion by producing high quality face masks that could compare favourably with those produced elsewhere.

“I promised to reach out to my counterparts in Ministries of Basic and Secondary Education,as well as Technical and Vocational Education, so that they can patronize the institution for the items for their pupils and students.

“The producers of the face masks are former students of the Polytechnic who were only engaged on Thursday last week and after two days, had produced such large quantity of the items for the public,” he said.

He also admonished youths to seize the opportunity of skills acquisition centres to acquire the necessary skills that would make them employers of labour in the future.

Muoboghare commended the cordial relationship existing between the Rector and the Management team, stressing that the institution would make more progress as long as they worked as one family.

While conducting the Commissioner and his team round the workshops, the Rector of the Polytechnic, Prof. Stella Aniemeka, said that the institution had the equipment and manpower to produce face masks in commercial quantities at a very short notice.

Aniemeka said that the school had sewing machines that could produce a minimum of one thousand face masks in one day, and therefore called on state government agencies and the public for patronage.

“As a way to check the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, all students, on resumption, must wear face masks as defaulters would not be allowed into the campus,” she said.

The rector commended the commissioner for his commitment towards the uplifting of the polytechnic, saying that his advice had helped the institution greatly in its giant stride towards attaining the desired goals.