Staff of the College of Education (Technical), Lafiagi, staged a protest on Wednesday, citing years of institutional neglect and the deteriorating state of facilities. The demonstrators attributed the college’s decline to the absence of intervention from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) since 2019.
Gathering at the college entrance, staff members were observed carrying placards with messages such as, “Education First, Include Us In TETFUND Now,” while chanting solidarity songs. The protest, broadcast live by the Kwara-based media platform NupekoTV, highlighted the growing frustration among the institution’s employees.
Protesters voiced concerns that the college is in a state of “clear regression,” with no new facilities or maintenance of existing infrastructure for nearly six years. While expressing gratitude for the timely payment of salaries, one staff member noted the critical role of TETFUND in the college’s development. “Most of our buildings are TETFUND projects, and for the past six years, nothing new has been done,” the protester said. “If TETFUND intervention is not present in the school, this college may be closed down soon.”
Another demonstrator lamented that the College of Education (Technical), Lafiagi, is the only tertiary institution in Kwara State not currently benefiting from the federal intervention fund. “Go to anywhere in the state, be it Ilorin, Oro, see the tertiary institutions there… you will see that 99% of buildings there were built by TETFUND,” the staff member stated, accusing the state government of sidelining the institution.
The protest underscores concerns about the state of educational institutions in rural areas of Kwara, even as the state government reports progress in the education sector.
