Ikere College embraces farming to boost IGR

Due to the insufficient fund available to the College of Education, Ikere-Ekiti from the Ekiti State Government, the institution has embraced farming to increase its internally generated revenue.

The Acting Provost of the college, Dr. Gabriel Olowoyo, said this in an interview with journalists in Akure on Sunday.

The provost observed that although farming was not new to the institution, his administration had to resuscitate its farms because it had been run down before he took over as the acting provost of the institution.

He said that the school now planted cassava, maize, yam and other crops on a large expanse of land in its efforts to cushion the effects of insufficient fund to run the institution.

According to Olowoyo, the college receives N90m as monthly subvention from the state government. He, however, said it had to source for additional N4m to pay wages as well as pensions.

Olowoyo said that the institution would have loved to expand its farm if it had enough money to do so. He said that it would soon approach some banks for fund to finance the project.

The provost added that the institution was planning to venture into other businesses like drinking water production.

He stated that the school’s authorities were already negotiating with a bank on possible areas of partnership in the proposed water project.

He said government alone could no longer bear the huge finances required to run the school, saying this was the reason for embarking on the projects.

Olowoyo said, “The state governor has charged us to look for ways in which we can assist ourselves. We have been directed to look inwards, that is why we are doing all these.”

The provost said that his aim was to develop the school, adding that he would like to come back to the school later in life and be happy with both its physical and academic development.

To make the college benefit from abundance of opportunities available through the Information Communication Technology, Olowoyo said that the institution had established an automated library.

He stated that the ICT centre, which was funded by the Education Tax Fund, had no fewer than 100 work stations which were Internet compliant.