The Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) has appealed for the passage of the bill for the review of the Colleges of Education (COE) act pending before the National Assembly.
Mr Nuhu Ogirima, President of the union in a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja on Tuesday said the passage would ensure the repositioning of the sector.
Ogirima said that the bill once passed and assented to by the President, would usher in a new dawn in the COE and the country at large.
“The leadership COEASU felt a compelling need to acknowledge, with excitement, the recent appointments of individuals from within the COE system, as Provosts and members of the Governing Councils of the new Federal Colleges of Education.
“The Union is particularly delighted by the approval of President Muhammadu Buhari of the nominations of the individuals given age-long quest for involvement of individuals with proven record of diligence in service in the COE system.
“The Union also considers the eventual reconstitution of Governing Councils and Visitation Panels, on the heels of prolonged agitation for their reconstitution, as commendable.
“This stems from the mounting existential and seemingly intractable challenges besetting most of the institutions since the completion of tenure of the defunct Councils. “
According to him, the union views the choice and pedigree of the membership of the various teams as commendable, with specific reference to the headship of the Visitation Panels.
He also commended the Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu for the confidence and trust in selecting a considerable good percentage of those appointed as principal officers in the six new established Federal COE .
The Federal Ministry of Education on April 8, announced the appointments of principal officers of the newly established Federal COE.
They are COE, Iwo, Osun State; COE Gidan Madi, Sokoto State, COE Odugbo, Benue State, COE Jama’are, Bauchi State, COE Isu, Ebonyi State and COE Ekiadolor, Edo State.
“ Nevertheless, the union is not oblivious of the limitations or constraints imposed by the Acts establishing the COEs and the NCCE, currently undergoing appropriate legislative process at the National Assembly.
“ This may have informed some decisions on choice of officers; if anything, such a development should rather be seen as strengthening inter-institutional bonds and the promotion of cross-breeding of intellectual ideas among academics in tertiary institutions.
“However, in the interim, the fulfillment of pledge to repositioning the sector and government’s recourse to merit in these appointments is a proof of FGN’s pragmatic sense of purpose to ease access to tertiary teacher-education,” he said.
Ogirima also emphasised the need to be purposive and comprehensive in handing over the instructional mandate of the various institutions to the appointed Provosts of the six colleges.
He called on the Federal Ministry of Education and the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE) to properly guide the processes of accessing the funding windows available to enable the systematic and firm take-off of the institutions.
