Akinwande Soji-Ojo
Oyo State Governor, Engr Seyi Makinde, has revealed that the motive behind the total takeover of Ladoke Akintola University (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, by the Oyo State Government was because the joint ownership system with the Osun State Government was not yielding positive results.
Makinde stated this while speaking to the Board of Editors of the Nigerian Tribune on the occasion of his 55th birthday celebration, on Sunday.
Recall that the National Universities Commission (NUC) had in November 2020, granted the full ownership of LAUTECH to Oyo State Government.
Speaking on the reason for the total takeover of the institution and the achievements of his administration in the education sector, Makinde said when his administration came on board and evaluated the situation of things at the university, it was discovered that the joint ownership was not working in the best interest of the students.
He added that students of the institution were forced to spend more than the expected years for their respective courses as a result of the non-working joint ownership.
“When we came in, the joint ownership of LAUTECH by Osun and Oyo States was not working.
“Students were spending a period of eight years on a five-year programme. Thankfully, we were able to take sole ownership of LAUTECH and they have continued with more improvement and have taken their destinies into their own hands,” he said.
Speaking further on his achievements in the education sector, the governor said his administration has been able to secure the upgrading of Emmanuel Alayande College of Education to a fully-fledged education university, stabilise academic activities at the First Technical University, employed over 5,000 teachers, among others.
“Recently, we saw the need to upgrade the Emmanuel Alayande College of Education to a University of Education and we did all the necessary things, put all the needed resources to help them function optimally. We have the approval already and we now have a University of Education.
“When I came in, the First Technical University had issues, but when you buy a company, which is the same as taking over an administration, you take up both the liability and assets and we have been able to stabilise that.
“So, the meaning of all of that is over the next 40 to 50 years, we have one conventional university that is sponsored by the state, LAUTECH. And you have two specialised universities,” the governor said.
The governor also disclosed that no fewer than 60,000 out-of-school students in Oyo State have been returned to classrooms with the provision of free notebooks and textbooks by the state government.
“When we came in, I promised to get as many of our students that are out of school back into classrooms.
“And a major impediment was the payment of the N3,000 levy that was imposed. We removed it and between then and now, we have been able to get about 60,000 out-of-school children back into the classrooms. Also, in terms of quality, we made a compendium for the students, gave them notebooks, textbooks,” he added.
