The Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education (AOCOED) Ijanikin Chapter of the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) has urged the Lagos State Government to fulfil its promise by upgrading the college into a university.
The Chairman of the Union, Mr Ige Ajayi, made this plea during a media briefing he addressed on Thursday in Lagos.
Ajayi said that the need for a change in the status of AOCOED to becoming a university of education was long overdue.
“AOCOED, formerly known as the Lagos State College of Education, is the oldest tertiary institution established by the state government with the aim of advancing the frontiers of knowledge among pre-service.
“AOCOED since 1985 has evolved from several stages based on the dynamism and quest for knowledge by residents of Lagos from a Grade III teacher training college in the name of Lagos Day Training College in 1958.
“It became a degree awarding institution in 1999 in collaboration with the University of Ado Ekiti on Sandwich Degree Programnes in Education courses and got approval in 2009 from the National Univeristies Commission (NUC) to run full time degree programmes .
“It is on record that the accreditation team from the NUC had on three occasions given 100 per cent accreditation to the college’s 26 programmes,” he said.
Ajayi added that the college, since its inception, had produced numerous notable Nigerians, who had continued to contribute to the overall growth of the state and the country.
“The college has a rich pedigree and has,no doubt, paid its dues following its affiliation to the Ekiti State University.
“The college can boast of qualified human resources, adequate infrastructure, accredited curriculum, webometric ranking, students and staff satisfaction.
“There cannot be greater proof of AOCOED’s readiness to transform to a university status than her passing three consecutive rigorous accreditation exercises from the NUC teams in the last 15 years,” he said.
Ajayi said that transiting AOCOED to a university of education would be timely to help Lagos residents stay in the state of excellence to pursue their studies.
Also, Dr Luqman Hussain, the Director of Extra-Moral Studies and Community Education,AOCOED, said that the upgrading would also contribute to quality education in Lagos state.
Hussain said that the college has enough resources, staff and manpower for the new process.
Oyedeji Bamgbose, the President of the Student Union of the college said that students were eager to see the changes soon.
Bamgbose said that he hopes it becomes a reality following the promise of the Lagos State Government.(NAN)
