MOCPED Administration Ruining the Lives of its Degree Programme Students

ERC Demands Release of Results and Certificates

 Press Statement

The Education Rights Campaign (ERC) calls on the Prof. Olu Akeusola-led administration of the Michael Otedola College of Primary Education (MOCPED), Noforija Epe, Lagos to desist from ruining the lives of its degree programme students.

An education institution is meant to mould lives, but this is not the case with MOCPED. Rather than mould lives, the College seems hell-bent on destroying the future of youths unfortunate enough to gain admission into its EKSU-affiliated degree program. We charge the public to join us in calling the Provost, Prof. Olu Akeusola to order and demanding that the College releases the results and certificates of its degree programme students.

The College is running a degree program affiliated with the Ekiti State University (EKSU) but no student under the program has been issued results or certificates since the degree program started about eight (8) years ago. As a result, many lives have been shattered and dreams crushed. With unemployment rising in the country, those without certificates have no hope of getting proper employment.

Despite that people's lives and future are involved, the College administration has not deemed it fit to issue a single official explanation for this unpleasant state of affairs. However, enquiries made at the Ekiti State University (EKSU) reveals that the problem is the MOCPED administration's default in some payment agreement it had with EKSU for the running of the degree program. For instance, a similar degree program affiliated with EKSU is being run at the Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education (AOCOED), Ijanikin Lagos and reportedly there has been no complaint about non-release of result or certificate. Prof. Akeusola's administration of the Michael Otedola College of Primary Education (MOCPED) is widely known to be very corrupt. Therefore there is a strong belief that the fees paid by degree students from which payments due to EKSU are to be deducted may also have been mismanaged like the rest of the College's funds.

Series of efforts made by the Education Rights Campaign (ERC) to wade into the matter have been rebuffed. A letter written since September 2014 has not been replied by the administration. The Lagos state government also appears to be helping the College administration to cover up its crimes. A similar letter written to the Commissioner for education on the subject matter has not been replied till date.

The connivance of the Lagos State government with the Prof. Akeusola-led MOCPED administration to deny the affected graduates the right to their certificate is condemnable. We accuse the Lagos state commissioner for education, Mrs. Olayinka Oladunjoye, of irresponsibility in the discharge of her duties one of which is supervision and monitoring of tertiary institutions in the State. The commissioner for education cannot claim not to know that an educational institution under her watch has not issued certificates for over eight (8) years since its degree program started. Assuming that this is the case, you would expect that upon receiving a complaint in this regard, a pro-active commissioner would swing into action. But alas, this is not the case.

Anxious to get attention to their plight, the 2009/2010 set of the degree program who are the latest victim decided to organise a peaceful protest at the campus gate on Monday 1st December 2014 which was the first day of the College convocation ceremony. In response, the College administration unleashed on them a band of gun-wielding thugs and cultists just as they started gathering for the protest. The peaceful protest was brutally broken up with many protesters sustaining injuries as they ran for dear lives. All this happened under the watchful eyes of the police who were stationed at the College gate.

The ERC insists that students have a right to demand for the release of their results and certificates. It was after a series of promises by the College administration to release their results were unfulfilled and it became clear that they too are joining the league of ex-degree students without results that the frustrated students decided to organise a protest at the College gate to bring attention to their plight and to seek the intervention of Lagos State government officials and members of the public expected to grace the convocation.

The ERC shall continue to stand with the ex-degree students of the college until their demands are met. They face grave psychological trauma occasioned by their plight and the lacklustre attitude of the MOCPED administration and the Lagos State government towards their case. We urge all members of the public including trade unions, student unions, human right groups and civil society organisations to lend a hand in compelling the Lagos State government and MOCPED administration to release their results and certificates.

We Demand:

(1) Immediate release of results and issuance of certificates to all ex-students of Ekiti State University-MOCPED affiliate.

(2) Adequate compensation paid to all the ex-students whose dreams and future have been shattered due to years of lack of gainful employment as a result of the non-issuance of their certificates.

(3) An independent and democratic probe panel constituted by elected representatives of staff and students' union to probe the administration of MOCPED provost, Prof. Olu Akeusola in order to find out the true cause of delay in the release of results and certificates and recommend adequate punishment for anyone in the College administration, no matter highly placed, whose actions or inactions may have been responsible for the current unpleasant state of affairs.

(4) Proper funding of MOCPED and democratic running of the institution with the involvement of elected representatives of staff and student unions in all decision making organs of the College.

                                                                                          

Hassan Taiwo Soweto                                            Michael Ogundele                          

National Coordinator                                            National Secretary                        

07033697259