The National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), under the leadership of Prof. Idris Muhammad Bugaje, is driving a legislative reform to establish a National Polytechnic Commission and allow polytechnics to award Bachelor of Technology degrees as a direct move to end the long-standing HND-B.Sc. dichotomy in Nigeria’s tertiary education system.
Prof. Bugaje, Executive Secretary of the National Board for Technical Education, has positioned the agency at the centre of efforts to correct structural inequalities that have affected polytechnic graduates for decades. The reform agenda is anchored on sustained engagement with the National Assembly, under the leadership of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas.
NBTE’s reform push is aimed at reshaping the future of polytechnic education through legislation that recognises the role of technical education in national development. Prof. Bugaje’s approach combines evidence-based advocacy, diplomacy and stakeholder engagement, ensuring that the interests of polytechnic institutions, students and graduates are embedded in the legislative process while maintaining standards, sustainability and coherence within the Technical and Vocational Education and Training framework.
At the centre of the effort is the proposed National Polytechnic Commission (NPC) Bill. The bill seeks to create a dedicated regulatory and policy oversight body for the polytechnic subsector. Its responsibilities include advising government on the establishment and development of polytechnics, preparing national development plans, approving new institutions and academic programmes, and enforcing quality assurance across the sector.
The bill is widely regarded as a decisive step toward dismantling decades of institutional discrimination against Higher National Diploma holders. It has progressed through key deliberative stages in the House of Representatives under the Committee on Federal Polytechnics and Higher Technical Education, chaired by Hon. Fu’ad Laguda.
Throughout the process, Prof. Bugaje has personally engaged legislators, committee chairmen and principal officers of the National Assembly, consistently underscoring the importance of polytechnic education to Nigeria’s industrialisation, technological advancement and workforce development. Beyond the legislature, NBTE has led extensive consultations with rectors, provosts, labour unions, professional bodies and industry stakeholders to build national consensus around the proposed commission.
These engagements have helped position the NPC Bill as a national priority within Nigeria’s education reform agenda. In collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Education and the National Council on Education (NCE), NBTE has ensured that the reforms follow a coherent and nationally aligned framework. Stakeholders note that the reforms are not framed as mere institutional restructuring, but as a strategic pathway for improving governance quality, relevance and public perception of polytechnic education.
The bill, now at the Second Reading stage, marks a major milestone in the reconfiguration of Nigeria’s tertiary education architecture. It seeks to correct inequities that have constrained the polytechnic sector, limited professional mobility and violated the principle of non-discrimination enshrined in the 1999 Constitution and relevant international conventions.
Speaker Abbas has described the proposed dual mandate for polytechnics as a landmark legislative reform. The amendment allows polytechnics to continue awarding National Diplomas and Higher National Diplomas while also conferring Bachelor of Technology Honours degrees in Technology, Engineering and Vocational Sciences, directly confronting the HND-B.Sc. divide.
When enacted, the NPC Bill is expected to expand access to degree-level education, secure professional recognition for polytechnic graduates and reposition polytechnics as engines of industrial growth, innovation and productivity aligned with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda. As Napoleon Hill observed, “Victory belongs to the most persevering.”
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