The Alumni Association of Osun State College of Education, Ila Orangun, has warned governor Rauf Aregbesola, against the alleged plan to merge the state tertiary institutions together especially the college in Ila Orangun with another state owned College of Education in Ilesa.

The national president the association, Ayobami Fakeye, gave this warning at a press conference in Osogbo on Wednesday. 

Fakeye said the plan to reduce the 28 academic programmes in the college to just two would forfeit the economic activities in the town and lead to loss of jobs for some lecturers and non-teaching staff.

“The Ila alumni is of the opinion that Osun State government should not even contemplate the merging of the college with any other institution because the alumni sees the move as retrogressive, totally anti-progress, anti-peace, anti-development, ill-advised and capable of plunging the state into more chaos than it is currently experiencing.

“We do not want to assume that the move by the Osun State government to merge the Osun State College of Education, Ila Orangun, with Osun State College of Education, Ilesa, is a mere rumour," he said.

The alumni president maintained that the association would not believe the explanation from the governor that he would not merge the college with any other one because he had once proven it when he assured parent and teachers association of Fakunle Comprehensive High School, Osogbo that he would not demolish the school but still went ahead to demolish it.

“You will recall that the demolition of Fakunle Comprehensive High School, Osogbo, was in the rumour mill for a long time and the insensitive government in the state went ahead to demolish it despite calls by well-meaning citizens of the state against the move.

“Osun State government is hereby warned not to merge the college in Ila with any other institution. The state government should listen and listen to the voice of reason in order to avert the untold consequences that may arise from the retrogressive move,” he warned.