ADENIRAN Ogunsanya College Education, Otto Ijanikin, Lagos, has been in the news over allegations by academic and non-academic staff regarding unpaid arrears and unremitted pension fund. Describing the allegations as untrue, the Registrar of the 56 year old institution, Mr. Olumuyiwa Coker, in this chat with AMAKA ABAYOMI, RICHARD UDOFIA and EDIRI EJOH, says no amount of misinformation can obliterate the leadership position the College has sustained over the last five decades.
STANDARD of the College

I am glad to tell you that all the 32 Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) programmes we presently run enjoy full accreditation by the National Council for Colleges of Education (NCCE) and this has been consistent for nearly two decades. Also, all the 16 education degree programmes in partnership with the Ekiti State University have 100 per cent accreditation. This means that this College is comparable to any teachers’ training institution that runs a degree programme in Nigeria.

There was a time NCCE did a survey of Colleges of Education in the country that can be upgraded to degree-awarding institutions and AOCOED happened to be among the five that were short-listed nationwide.

Recently, we held a national conference here and the current Secretary, Committee of Provosts, Prof Olu Akeusola, said “today AOCOED ranks as the best College of Education in Nigeria.”

Do not forget that Prof Akeusola is also a sitting Provost and an experienced educationist whose career has taken him to so many countries in Africa and beyond. This simply speaks volumes of our ability.

Infrastructure: To start with, the Health Center building was awarded by the Lagos State Tenders Board with every due process followed. During construction all relevant government agencies in charge of buildings inspected the project and it was certified to have met the required standard.

The building also passed the integrity test by the Lagos State Material Testing Laboratory and I can confidently say that some universities in the country cannot boast of the kind of health centre facility that we have in AOCOED.

The NCCE and Nigeria Universities Commission (NUC) also gave credit to the Lagos State government for citing such facility in the College.
Interestingly, that Health Centre was constructed not just to serve the college community but also other adjoining neighbourhoods and we are working out an agreement with the Ministry of Health on how the facility can be put to maximum use.

Let me also add that all the projects that this institution got from Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) went through monitoring and evaluation processes, so I do not know how that union leader arrived at her conclusion.

End to the strike
The truth is that in any establishment, issues must always come up but the maturity is in the ability of all concerned parties to sit down and resolve them. Management and government are doing their best to resolve this issue and we have been meeting and discussing with them from time to time.

However, it is not 18 months arrears that is being owed as claimed by workers. Initially, it was 18 months but government promised to pay nine months while management would pay the remaining nine.

Now, government has paid four and half months, while management has paid nine months to levels 1-5. What is left are those from levels 6-8 and 9-15 that management has paid four and two months respectively. The unions and their members can confirm that management has rolled out payment plans on how the outstanding arrears would be paid to the remaining levels.

Government has already granted the approval to pay the outstanding balance which is at the final stage and this has been duly communicated to the unions.

With respect to unremitted pensions and inadequate funding, management has been meeting with government on the matter which would soon be resolved.
AOCOED is an ongoing project and we should all work together to move it forward. We must all join hands to ensure that the dreams of the founding fathers are kept alive. We must all not be tired of coming to the negotiating table with the intention of achieving a win-win situation since both unions and management are partners in the progress and development of this great institution.

The College thus far
Our achievements are too numerous to mention as this present administration, under Mr. Bashorun Wasiu Olalekan, has remained committed to its mandate. His administration pioneered the College’s beautification and annual tree planting in accordance with the Lagos State Environmental Law.

It also upgraded the library to the e-library platform and repositioned the ICT centre. Under his tenure, the College witnessed the maiden induction of graduates into the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN).

This administration restructured the security system and carried out the maintenance of street lights which have helped curtail crime and other vices.
It is suffice to say that the college has maintained a rosy relationship with its host communities of Otto Ijanikin, as well as leaders and traditional rulers.