The principal of Federal Government College Otobi in Otukpo, Local Government Area of Benue State, Mr. Amudipe Gabriel Olu, recently created a sensational moment, as he was seen publicly dressed in the school’s uniform.
According to a writeup credited to one Mr. Agebe Sam in a Facebook post, the principal dressed like an SS3 student and stormed the Otukpo Main Market, where he was spoted, causing a stir in the market.
The college was originally established in 1994 during the late Gen. Sani Abacha’s regime and located in Vandeikya. However, in 1997, it was relocated from Vandeikya to Otobi-Akpa, its present location in Otukpo Local Government, with Late Mr. S. O Okita as its first principal.
The current principal, Mr. Amudipe, upon his assumption as the 12th principal of the college in 2018, is said to have raised the status of the college from a mocked, glorified community secondary school to one of the best amongst the 50 unity colleges in Nigeria.
The ever busy principal, who made student welfare his priority upon resumption of office, insisted that students got the best of meals as compared to what they ate at home.
No wonder he was found around the Otukpo Main Market, precisely at 3NS and I Enterprises, shopping for quality goods alongside his head of kitchen.
Students of the school are said to have testified to an improvement in their diet. It is no wonder that they are always the first among Nigerian unity schools to resume classes and also feel bad when it is time for holidays.
Mr. Amudipe has further reversed the narrative about the school in terms of infrastructure by practically turning the college into a “construction site.”
Some of his visible projects include the construction of a 200 capacity ultra-modern
boys hostel, completion of the main administrative block, construction of the fully air-conditioned
staff transit house, completion of a 3000 capacity assembly hall, with a theater facility, as well as the complete rehabilitation of the old science laboratory, among many others.
Worthy to mention here is the fact that, the Ondo State born principal/philanthropist has paid school fees for a handful of students who were at the verge of dropping out of school due to one problem or the other, ranging from loss of parents, guardians, or lack of finance.
Amudipe has served at different federal government colleges and ministries, including
Federal Government College (FGC), Odogbolu, Ogun State; FGC Kabba, Kogi State; Federal Scholarship Board;
Federal Minstry of Education; and, presently, FGC Otobi-Akpa.
His outstanding performance and credence brought him to limelight, as these were the only credentials he needed for the 2016 Presidential Civil Service Merit Award by President Muhammad Buhari.
As it is often said that no faithful service rendered to God and humanity ever goes unrewarded, this is evident as to why Mr. Amudipe has been adjudged by the federal ministry of education and pronounced by the minister of education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, as the “Best Performing Principal” out of the 104 unity schools in Nigeria.
