The Kwara State Government has restated its commitment to create enabling environment for tertiary institutions in the state to thrive and attain optimum performance.
The Commissioner for Tertiary Education, Science and Technology, Senior Sulyman, revealed on Wednesday after his familiarisation visits to Colleges of Education, Nursing and Midwifery and the International Aviation College, all in Ilorin.
Other institutions visited were International Vocational Technical and Entrepreneurship College, Ajase-Ipo; and the Kwara State College of Health Technology, Offa.
The visit also took the commissioner to other state-owned tertiary institutions which included Kwara State University, Malete; College of Education, Oro; College of Education (Technical), Lafiagi; College of Nursing, Oke-Ode; Kwara State Polytechnic, Ilorin; and the College of Arabic and Islamic Legal Studies (CAILS), Ilorin.
Sulyman stated that the visits were to afford him the opportunity to familiarise himself and identify critical needs of the institutions to find solutions to the lingering challenges facing them.
Sulyman, however, warned heads of the institutions that under no circumstance should any of them charge students unapproved fees under any guise whatsoever as this would amount to extortion.
The Acting Provost, College of Education, Dr Ahmed Ayinla, Provost of College of Nursing and Midwifery, Imam Ayinla, and Rector of the International Aviation College, Mr Ben Adeyileka, all enumerated the challenges facing their institutions.
Among the challenges enumerated were decayed infrastructure, insufficient academic staff and inadequate funding.
At the International Vocational, Technical and Entrepreneurship College, Ajase-Ipo, the Rector, Dr Ade Somide, appealed to local government councils and corporate bodies to sponsor applicants to solve the problem of dearth of students at the institution.
The provost, College of Health Technology, Offa, Dr Aliyu AbdulRauf, said he had built an ICT centre, purchased an ambulance and constructed blocks of classrooms and lecture rooms during his tenure.
He thanked the state government for supporting the college during the last accreditation exercise and called for the building of a befitting administrative block and perimeter fencing in the institution.
At the Kwara State Polytechnic, Ilorin, and College of Education (Technical), Lafiagi, their Rectors, Dr Abdul Muhammed and Dr Muhammed Ibrahim, appealed for government’s intervention on the control of the erosion threatening their institutions.
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