SchChat - School | Yaba College of Technology

Descriptions

Yaba College of Technology, (...first and is still the best) started as Yaba Technical Institute, which took over all the activities of Yaba Higher College following the recommendation of the Elliot Commission on higher education in West Africa. The Yaba Higher College was closed down, and the students were moved to form the nucleus of the University College, Ibadan in 1948.The nation’s first Technical Institute, Yaba Technical Institute started day and evening classes in October 1947. On September 23, 1963, Rt. Hon. Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, the then Governor-General of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, renamed the Yaba Technical Institute as Yaba College of Technology on the occasion of the official opening of the Engineering Block donated by Shell-British Petroleum. The change in name was in anticipation of the dynamic role the College was to play in the production of technical manpower for the economic and social development of Nigeria. In the words of Dr. Azikiwe, “Yaba College of Technology is at the forefront of the overall programme for streamlining our technical education to meet the needs of Nigeria”. This change of name became a catalyst that threw up the need for autonomy for the College. Thus, the first step taken was the constitution of an Advisory Board in 1964 by the Minister of Education to help the College in its challenging path to the future. The quest for autonomy for the College finally came to a head in 1969 with the approval of the autonomy and the promulgation of Degree 23 of 1969, “Yaba College of Technology Decree 1969”. which granted it the mandate to provide full-time and part-time courses of instruction and training in technology, applied science, commerce and management, agricultural production and distribution; and for research. This decree represented a major step towards the development of the College. It is significant to note that Yaba College of Technology was the only College offering Higher Diploma courses in Nigeria till 1979 when the Federal Polytechnics act 1979 was promulgated. Yaba College of Technology is the first higher institution in Nigeria to establish a Centre for Entrepreneurship Development, with linkages with the world of commerce and industry. The centre offers compulsory courses which must be taken by all students throughout their stay in the College. There is a Quality Assurance Unit in the College which monitors the quality of academic service delivery. The Applied Research and Technology Innovation (ARTI) Unit was established to promote research and linkages with private sector organizations for the exploitation and use of research. ARTI also assists to promote linkages between students of Yabatech and students of other institutions especially in the area of research. Free medical service is provided at the Medical Centre, which is open 24/7. Sports facilities are provided at the sport complex which is located at the centre of the campus. The College has won the Nigeria Polytechnic Games Association five times out of sixteen editions of the competition. The College has a second campus at Epe, this campus is home to the Department of Agricultural Technology, Agric and Bio Engineering, Leisure & Tourism, School of Technical Education and Michael Otedola Information and Communication Centre.