The Polytechnic was established through legislation by the 6th National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria under the Federal Polytechnic Act of 1990 as amended. It was assented into law by late President Umaru Musa Yar’ Adua (GCFR) in July 2007, but full implementation was in 2009.
The institution is the first Federal Government higher institution in the state.
We have a rich curriculum, with the required content and quality endowment of well-trained academic and non-academic staff to provide practical teaching and conduct relevant research, innovations and fabrications for national development.
Located at a serene coastal community, Ekowe, the polytechnic is the ideal institution for student excellence and staff development.
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We strives to promote in students a sense of responsibility for their own development and an understanding of their obligations as members of a democratic society. The Polytechnic fosters in students the desire to learn, the ability to think clearly and express themselves effectively.
The Niger Delta Region is rich in Oil and Natural Gas resources and constitutes a core national economic base for the petroleum sector in Nigeria. Nonetheless, Bayelsa State for a long time experienced neglect in terms of development despite being one of the major Oil producing States in the country. The strategic initiative of the Federal Government of Nigeria to therefore establish the Federal Polytechnic, Ekowe, Bayelsa State was a critical and much needed step to advance technological education and national presence in the South-South region.
The 6th National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria passed the legislation of the Federal Polytechnic Act 1990 (as amended) giving way for the establishment of the Federal Polytechnic, Ekowe and the Act was assented into law by H.E. President Umaru Musa Yar’ Adua GCFR in July 2007. The Federal Polytechnic, Ekowe, Bayelsa State was the first higher institution established by the Federal Government of Nigeria in Bayelsa State after the creation of Bayelsa State out of the old Rivers State in 1996. In 2011, H.E. President Goodluck Azikiwe Ebele Jonathan, GCON, GCFR announced Federal Government policy to establish another tertiary institution in Bayelsa State to increase the access to education for all in states of the federation. The creation of new federal universities to balance the gap of federal presence in the various states led to the creation of the Federal University, Otuoke, Bayelsa State.
The Federal Polytechnic, Ekowe, Bayelsa State did not take off as a full fledged tertiary institution until 2009, when it started at the acquired premises of an existing community institution in Ekowe locality. The Polytechnic was earmarked in the South-South region as a national technological training institution in the field of Oil and Gas with the aim to develop skills and empower stakeholders in the petroleum industry.
The Ministry of Petroleum Resources was responsible for the overall coordination and development of the institution at inception. However, the Federal Polytechnic was later transferred to the Federal Ministry of Education. The Polytechnic remains a strategic point of reference for the promotion of national unity and co-existence of Bayelsans with other Nigerians. It is equally one of the national institutions established in rural areas and in the oil rich region to promote federal presence and address the needs of the people by bringing development closer to the people despite the challenges of their location and the huge investments required to develop such areas owing to their soil and climatic conditions and other challenges of life.
Ekowe (Ekeu) autonomous community is one of the communities comprising the Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State with headquarters at Oporoma and a total population of 319, 413 according to the 2006 National Population census. Ekowe, being one of the autonomous communities in the Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State is the host community of Federal Polytechnic, Ekowe. The closest cities to Ekowe are Warri, Port Harcourt, Owerri and Aba though Yenagoa, the state capital is also expanding as a modern capital city. Ekowe locality remains largely one of the peaceful and less volatile areas in the region though other parts of the State have their peculiarities and challenges. Ekowe is situated along River Nun with a very small population and is at the moment accessed by water transportation only as efforts to construct road networks to the community are yet to yield positive results like other riverine communities. This is why the laudable efforts of the Federal Government to bring people closer to development and government patronages is still a far cry in finding ways and means to develop rural communities in the long neglected oil rich region of the South-South region of Nigeria. No doubt, lack of basic social amenities and infrastructure like roads access to riverine communities have slowed down the pace of communal development and progress in opening up the areas to other regions and in furthering good intentions of government for educational advancement and patronage of its institutions in remote areas like Ekowe.
Nigeria’s education system has faced various challenges ranging from lack of infrastructures to inconsistent curricular and academic calendar. With the increase in admissible candidates and low carrying capacity at the available institutions, many candidates are left to roam the streets. In an effort to curtail this trend and bridge the gap of federal presence and access to formal and tertiary education, the Federal Government of Nigeria approved the establishment of Federal Polytechnic Ekowe, Bayelsa in 2007.
The establishment of Federal Polytechnic, Ekowe is therefore regarded as a national enterprise that should help to provide more opportunities for citizens, increase the potentials for development across the nation, alleviate the sufferings of the people and enable them to participate in the process of nation building through the progress achieved in the institution.
The creation and existence of the institution is another assurance and a political guarantee of the well-meaning intentions of the government to bring development to the oil rich region and its riverine areas so as to eventually open up the areas for massive strategic development. Hence, the Polytechnic plays a strategic role in the consideration of the national recognition of the region’s contributions to the national economy for nation-building at this time while equally creating equal opportunities for the people particularly the youths to access technological education within familiar terrain and catchment areas with sense of belonging and community pride. An average member of the community sees the Polytechnic as a won prize for community development and empowerment in the facet of its human development.