Sola Adeyemo 
The Alumni Association, which currently has over 200 registered members worldwide, with more still joining, was inaugurated on Saturday, the 20th July, 2024 and is currently being led by Gbenga Oladokun as Caretaker Chairman, with Jide Oyeleye as Secretary. Olurinde Peters Jimmy, (an advertising practitioner) is in charge of publicity, with the protocol offices in Ibadan, Lagos, and Diaspora being manned by Gbenga Aremu, Mrs. Yemi Ajewole-Alade, Femi Adeyinka and Wale Onakoya, respectively.
Kunle Yakubu currently manages the Finance department; Dr. Sola Alimi steers the Protocol; Adedayo Sapoloso is in charge of awards; Andrew Akinbodewa oversees exhibition; while Mrs. Omolola Aduroja and Oluwole Omofemi are also members of the Caretaker Committee.
In attendance at the well-attended inauguration where ‘Lifetime Achievement, Academic Excellence, and Long Year Service Awards’ were given to some of the Alumi, was the Deputy Speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly, Hon. Abiodun Fadeyi, (who is an alumnus). The Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Dr. Wasiu Olatubosun, also added colour and significance to the programme as the Oyo State Cultural Troupe he mobilised to the event, performed glowingly to the admiration of all. The duo were given awards of recognition.
Speaking on behalf of the association, the Chairman, Gbenga Oladokun, said that lecturers are not sufficient in the Fine Arts department of the Institution, while appealing to Governor Makinde to employ more efficient hands and provide better infrastructure to bring back the glory the department enjoyed when he and other colleagues were students in the department several years ago.
In his address, the Tourism Commissioner, Dr. Olatubosun, was elated that the department of Fine Arts still exists in the school, noting that when he was a lecturer in the school, “Fine Arts department was then a delight among other departments”. Though the management of the school was not represented at the inauguration, Olatubosun urged them to inject more life into the activities of the Fine Arts department, while commending the Deputy Speaker, for identifying with the Alumni Association. He urged the members to be united and up their game in seeing to the infrastructural development of the department.
Addressing his co-Alumni, the Deputy Speaker, Hon. Fadeyi, appreciated his boss, Governor Seyi Makinde, for re-introducing Fine Arts as a subject into the Oyo state public school curriculum after it had been abandoned for some period. Stressing the importance of the subject and how it has impacted the society and brought many of the.alumni to their enviable professional heights, Fadeyi said: “On behalf of the Executive Governor of Oyo state, Engr. Seyi Makinde, I bring greetings to you all. I salute my lecturers then, some of who are in attendance in this hall. For me, it is home-coming.
“Regarding the condition of staff in this school, there have been series of petitions bordering on inadequacy. I am not happy seeing such in a department I belong to. That department has helped a whole lot of us. As the adage goes, ‘do not forget your humble beginnings’. I am proud of the school, moreso because they call it ‘The Polytechnic, Ibadan’, with the prefix ‘the’. And that means a lot. Others are just called ‘Polytechnic’ We are going to do a whole lot to improve that department.
“We need to appreciate Governor Seyi Makinde, and by extension, the 9th Assembly, who have graciously ensured that Fine Arts is brought back to our public schools. If you are an Arts teacher and you need job, the employment portal is now open”, the deputy Speaker who is representing Ona Ara local government, said.
On the issue of welfare of Alumni staff in the Institution, Pastor Mathew Ola, one of the awardees, in his remarks, corroborates the Chairman’s plea to Governor Makinde, lamenting that “In our Polytechnic, no HND graduate can hold any high rank position. He cannot rise to its top-most position. Our products are not recognized. No outsider will build our institution for us. Let our young ones get involved in politics so that they can speak and act for us”.
In the same vein, Mr Funso Felix Isiade, one of the first set of students of the department, urged the government and the management of the Polytechnic, to ensure the sustenance of Fine Arts department as the alumni are major contributors to the creative industry in our country today.
While presenting the documentary of the distinguished Alumni, which featured some of the awardees, who have excelled in their chosen career worldwide, Mr Olurinde Peters Jimmy, indicated that there are thousands of the Alumni doing very well locally and all around the world, but a twenty minute documentary could accommodate but little
Other distinguished Alumni honoured with outstanding awards for their versatility, dexterity and fame in the profession, both in Nigeria and in the Diaspora, included: Ayanladun Ayandepo, Yemi Ajewole, Adedayo Babalola, Otunba Mufu Onifade, Edward Lamptey, Oluwole Omofemi, Femi Olajire, Andrew Akingbola, Felix Isiade, Alhaji Olumide Olufowobi, Pastor Mathew Ola, Mrs. Oluwafunke Ola, Dr. Elis Oyekola, Prof. Funke Ifeta, Dr. Emmanuel Omotoso, Chief Augustine Oyeleke, Deacon Lala Babatunde, Adisa Steve, Remi Olajire, and Felix Egunjobi,
The Alumni equally gave posthumous awards to Remi Ajakaye (First HOD of the department), Iyiola Ojediran, Revd. Ezekiel Oluwasina, Pa Supo Adewuyi, and Ebun Dagold, praying God to continue to rest their souls in perfect peace.
