By Shina Abubakar, Osogbo

The Rector, Osun State College of Technology, OSCOTECH, Esa-Oke, Dr Sunday Adegoke, has called on Governor Ademola Adeleke and the College’s Governing Council to urgently convert contract workers of the institution to permanent staff.

In his valedictory address service on Thursday, in Esa-Oke, he noted that the college has been relying heavily on Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to engage contract workers in order to keep operating.

He added that the issue of staffing has reached a critical stage due to a prolonged lack of replacement for retired personnel since 2012, adding that the number of contract staff now far exceeded permanent staff, raising concerns over sustainability and quality assurance.

According to him, “Staffing is another major problem. Since 2012, when staff retired en masse to avoid the contributory pension scheme, staff have been retiring normally without replacement. Thus, today, the contract staff, more popularly known as “IGR Staff” far outnumber the permanent staff. Another critical angle to this problem is that the academic staffing requirement is not just about the number, but rather about the right mix.

“To continue to meet accreditation requirements, I want to appeal to the Governing Council and the State Government to help the College convert our IGR staff to permanent staff, particularly considering their work experience. The majority of the contract staff have spent more than sixteen (16) years either as teaching or non-teaching staff of the College. This is very URGENT!”

Meanwhile, the Chairman Governing Council, OSCOTECH, Esa- Oke, Prince Diran Odeyemi, disclosed that Adegoke’s tenure has been marked by dedication, vision, commitment, creativity which has led to great transformation dotted with unwavering commitment to excellence and unprecedented growth.

His words, “During his almost 8 years tenure, his greatest achievement worthy of mentioning is the addition of a Faculty and 16 new departments, which is double what he met when he became the Rector of this institution.

“Deploying his acumen and benevolence nature, he was able to prioritise staff welfare by clearing seven months’ salary arrears of College contract staff and thirteen months of half Peculiar Allowance of Permanent Staff.”