The Chairman of the Committee of State Polytechnic Rectors in Nigeria, Dr. Sunday Adegoke, has appealed to the Osun State Government to offer full employment to several contract staff of the Osun State College of Technology, Esa-Oke, many of whom have served on part-time or contract terms for over 16 years.
Adegoke, who is set to retire in a week after serving eight years as rector of the college, made the appeal on Thursday during a valedictory ceremony held in his honour at the institution in Esa-Oke.
He lamented the staffing challenges facing the college, noting that contract employees now significantly outnumber permanent staff due to years of retirement without replacement by the state government.
“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,” Adegoke said.
“Another critical angle to this problem is that academic staffing requirement is not just about the number, rather about the right mix to continue to meet accreditation requirements,” he added.
Adegoke urged the Governing Council and the state government to convert the current contract staff into permanent employees, stressing that many of them have gained valuable experience over the years and have become integral to the institution’s operations.
“I want to appeal to the Governing Council and the state government to help the college to convert our IGR staff to permanent staff, particularly considering their work experience. Majority of the contract staff have spent more than 16 years either as teaching or non-teaching staff of the college,” he said.
He also identified the high cost of modern training equipment as a major challenge, citing fluctuating exchange rates and limited funding as significant obstacles in acquiring essential facilities for laboratories and studios.
“The most critical challenge we faced is the paucity of funds. It is so serious that we can hardly carry out infrastructural development without the Tertiary Education Trust Fund.
“Equally, for the procurement of modern technological equipment for our laboratories, workshops, and studios, we have to rely almost entirely on TETFund Zonal Interventions. The dynamics of technology and the exchange rate of naira to dollar further exacerbated this problem. I strongly recommend Quarterly Capital Grants be given to the College to address this challenge,” he stated.
Reflecting on his tenure, Adegoke said he added one faculty to the four he met upon assumption of office, and increased the number of departments from 16 to 32.
These developments, he noted, helped expand the institution’s student base.
He also highlighted the completion of several building projects, with others still ongoing.
In their separate remarks, the Chairman of the Governing Council, Mr. Diran Odeyemi, and the Osun State Commissioner for Education, Mr. Dipo Eluwole, commended Adegoke’s dedication, vision, and creativity, noting that his leadership had yielded notable achievements for the college.
