These days, we are gradually having lesser number of people going to study agriculture in tertiary institutions. Most of them seems to want to work in a bank or an oil firm. This notion was corroborated by the Provost of the College of Agriculture, Moor Plantation, Apata, Ibadan, Dr Babajide Adelekan.
Adelekan said this when he was reacting to a protest by workers in the institution, who were calling for his removal because of what they described as his poor administrative style. The workers claimed that the provost’s leadership style had made the college unattractive to prospective candidates, in addition to its reputation for frequent closure and poor facilities.
Addressing journalists in Ibadan, Adelekan said that most of the allegations made by the workers were beyond the institution because of scarcity of funds due to a drop in the Federal Government’s subvention. He also urged the workers to put an end to their agitation and return to work for the sake of the institution.
He said, “The number of student enrolling for agricultural courses is on the decline in Nigeria because they don’t want to read agriculture. Those who studied agriculture prefer to work in commercial banks and oil companies instead of practising. The products of this school are found in the agricultural industry because we focus on agricultural practice. If there is a drop in student enrolment, it is not because of the provost.
“We are dependent on subvention from the Federal Government. For years, funding to FG institutions have been irregular. We are owed several months of overhead payment by the government. We are not saying this to blame the government, but to situate things in context. Our Internally Generated Revenue is very limited because of the economic situation in the country. So, it is not adequate to take care of our operations.”