Governing Council, Osun Community End Rift Over Alleged Plan To Move Departments

THE disagreement between the Governing Council of the Osun State College of Technology, Esa-Oke, and the host community over an alleged plan to move some departments in the institution to another town has been resolved.

OSUN DEFENDER gathered that the Chairman of the college’s governing council, Mr. Diran Odeyemi, had been accused of planning to move some departments away from the campus of the institution in Esa-Oke to Ibokun, his hometown.

However, the allegations were dismissed by Odeyemi, who noted that the council planned to expand the academic programmes on offer at the institution by adding Mass Communication and other courses. 

He said part of the conditions that must be met before the Mass Communication course would get the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) accreditation includes the availability of training facilities for students, noting that the New Dawn Television Station in Ibokun, owned by the State Government, was then considered as a good option for training facilities since the government could not afford the purchase of all equipment needed on the institution’s campus immediately.

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Rather than the rift to abate, OSUN DEFENDER gathered that Odeyemi was barred from entering Esa-Oke by aggrieved youths, who brought out masqueraders during a protest staged over the matter.

However, the ripples generated by the development were resolved in a meeting presided over by the Owamiran of Esa Oke, Oba Adeyemi Adediran, which Odeyemi and representatives of the town attended.

Odeyemi, in a statement on Wednesday, wrote, “The Owamiran of Esa-Oke, Oba Adediran, praying for the Chairman, Governing Council, Osun State College of Technology, Esa-Oke, Prince Diran Odeyemi during a peaceful reconciliation meeting at the Owamiran’s palace on Tuesday.

“In attendance were other members of the Council, members of the Esa-Oke Development Association, Chiefs, Rector of the Institution and other stakeholders in the community.

“During the peace meeting, encomiums were rained on the Ibokun-born prince on the development he had brought to the Institution within the short term of his appointment as the Chairman of the Governing Council.”