Offa born academics in Kwara State under the auspices of Offa Professors Forum, have appealed to the state government to be fair in appointments to the state-owned tertiary institutions and government establishments.
The forum made the appeal at its inaugural meeting while charging the state government to take deliberate steps towards redressing the lopsided nature of its appointments into principal positions in the government establishments of the state, particularly the tertiary institutions.
The meeting, which was co-chaired by Professors Bayo Lawal and Sam Niyi Ojo observed that Offa is currently blessed with no fewer than a hundred professors spread across all areas of knowledge and serving in Nigerian institutions and even abroad.
In their separate presentations, Professors Lawal; the convener, Hussein Bukoye Oloyede; and Bashir Raji, former Vice-Chancellor of Fountain University, Osogbo, highlighted the significant roles of Offa to human capital development, especially in the area of western education.
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The forum stated that Offa had placed a lot of premium on education as far back as the 20th century; recalling that this was stimulated by the establishment of St Mark’s (Anglican) Primary School in 1909 by the Church Missionary Society.
The academics also noted that the establishment of Offa Grammar School, which was the first community-owned Secondary School in the then Northern Nigeria in 1943 by the Offa Descendant Union, resulted in the production of a vast number of Offa indigenes, who are well educated.
This development, according to the Offa academics, remained a milestone.
