Following the repositioning of the institution for academic excellence by the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led administration, the Edo State Polytechnic has held its 18th matriculation ceremony, with the new students charged to shun cultism and embrace a rigorous work ethic that would guarantee academic success.
The charge was made by former Rector, Delta State Polytechnic, Otefe, Prof. Temi Akporhonor, who was the guest lecturer at Edo State Polytechnic’s matriculation ceremony, held at the Polytechnic’s premises in Usen, Edo State.
The Edo State Polytechnic has recorded tremendous changes in the last two years under the leadership of Prof. Abiodun Falodun with the support of the Governor Obaseki-led administration and the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), among other stakeholders.
Delivering a lecture entitled Academic Failure, Cultism and Immorality: The Three Musketeers, Prof. Akporhonor, a Professor of Analytical Chemistry, said academic failure is as a result of a number of factors stemming from wrong choice of course of study, poor language skills and associating with wrong social groups, such as cultists and ‘runs babes’ on campus.
According to him, “Many students have cut short their academic pursuit and dreams because of cultism. They are chased out of campus by their fellow cult members, rival cult members or suspended, rusticated or expelled by their institutions because of their involvement in cultism. By that, they have cut short their academic dreams thereby becoming societal waste not only to themselves but to their families and society.”
He added, “In a nutshell, cultism, examination malpractice and prostitution on campus are fundamental and potent evils which lead to fatal academic failure. Anybody who gets involved hardly succeeds. The functional and credible advice, therefore, is to avoid them as one avoids a leper.
“The best cure to them is abstinence. They are cankerous worms, which are capable of destroying the entirety of the individual’s life, cutting short the academic and lifelong dreams and making such a victim a societal nonentity.”
