Ibadan – The member representing Atiba State Constituency in the Oyo State House of Assembly, Hon Asimiyu Alarape has appealed to Governor Seyi Makinde to commence the process of upgrading Emmanuel Alayande College of Education, EACOED to a degree-awarding institution.
Hon Alarape, who is the Minority Leader at the 9th Assembly made the appeal on Tuesday during the plenary.
Recall that the Oyo State Executive Council on March 17, 2021, announced its plan to upgrade the College to a degree-awarding institution.
The Atiba Lawmaker said the upgrade is long overdue considering the facilities that are on ground in the College.
The Ex-Speaker explained that some states in the country including Sokoto, Ekiti, Delta, Edo, Ogun, Rivers, and Lagos have already upgraded their Colleges of Education to degree-awarding institutions.
According to Hon Alarape, doing so is different from completely establishing a new university hence it is cost-saving.
“I want to appeal to Governor Seyi Makinde to put machinery in place for the commencement of upgrading of Emmanuel Alayande College of Education, EACOED to a degree-awarding institution. The announcement to that effect was made about ten months ago and since then nothing has been done. If the College is upgraded, it will help in addressing and optimizing the limited funds Government usually earmark for tertiary education. Our people in Oyo town will be so glad once the College is upgraded. I make bold to say that not many degree-awarding institutions can compete with EACOED in terms of facilities’, Hon. Alarape explained.
The Atiba State Lawmaker further said that to end discrimination against Oyo State students seeking admission into other institutions, there is the need for the state government to commence the upgrading without further delay.
