Colleges Without NABTEB Approval Inciting Students To Protest

The proprietor of Iseyin College of Science and Health Technology, Mr Sunday Owoseni, has described the listing of the college and the Oyo State College of Health Technology, Eleyele, Ibadan, as the only two institutions approved by the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) as a threat to those without the approval in the state.

He said the college’s students were being incited to protest by some elements working with illegal private health and nursing colleges in the state.

Owoseni, in a statement made available to newsmen, said some of those inciting his students were formerly his staff members who could not withstand the call for accountability, discipline and due diligence in the running of the college and had to run to some newly created colleges and plant acrimony in their former students against the authorities of Iseyin College of Science and Health Technology.

The educationist related what he called an unwarranted protest by the students over fears about the authenticity of their certificates at the end of their programmes, as unnecessary, adding that simple engagement with the school authorities would have assured them of the truth.

“The protest came from incitement from some individuals that we sacked when their attitude negated the discipline and diligence that our institution stands for. We have accredited courses, and we are progressively working to obtain accreditation for others.

“There has never been any time we do not engage our students on developments around the courses that need accreditation. We are working day and night on that. We also engage them early in writing professional courses related to their programme, so they have no reason to take to the streets and protest.

“Like I said earlier, we know where this is coming from, our former staff members who were sacked teamed up with a private college that was mentioned among some colleges that were recently accused of not having NBTE approval, created the blackmail and contacted some of our students to riot.

“The students who were involved in starting this crisis have mentioned their names to the management of our school, and we have submitted their names to the security agencies for investigation.”

The Proprietor appreciated the efforts of the Executive Chairman of Iseyin Local Government, Hon Rasaq Fadiran; the Aseyin of Iseyin, Oba Sefiu Olawale Oyebola Adeyeri 111; the traditional council; the security agencies; and other stakeholders who waded into the matter for an amicable resolution.