The news of the passage of a bill establishing the Federal College of Education (Special), Afon in Asa local government area of Kwara State was received with excitement by the people of Ilorin Emirate.

Afon, the site of the proposed federal institution is one of the villages in Ilorin Emirate.

The Ilorin Emirate Descendants Progressive Union (IEDPU) had since the carving out of Kogi State from the old Kwara in 1991 been mounting pressure on the federal government to establish a federal college of education in Kwara to replace the one in Okene which now falls in Kogi.

The senators overwhelming supported the passage of the Bill, tagged, Federal College of Education (Special) Afon, Kwara State ( Establishment) Bill 2022, following the presentation of the report by the chairman of the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFund, Senator Ahmed Baba-Kaita.

The Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFund had recently held a public hearing on the Bill, sponsored by the senator representing Kwara central district, Senator Ibrahim Oloriegbe, where all stakeholders expressed support for the establishment of the institution in Afon, Kwara State. Oloriegbe commended the Senate for passing the Bill into law.

The Baale of Afon, Alhaji Ibrahim Adelodun, the  chairman of Asa local government, Alhaji AbdulGaniyu Saadu, and the district head of Afon, Alhaji Kola Hanafi  praised the Senate, President Muhammadu Buhari, Oloriegbe, the chief of staff to the president, Prof Ibrahim Gambari, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State and the emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu Gambari, for their efforts towards the siting of the college in Afon.

The stakeholders appealed to President Buhari to assent to the Bill and ensure the early takeoff of the institution.