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The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State has commended Oyo State Governor, Abiola Ajimobi and his Osun State counterpart, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, over the final resolution of the 10-month old industrial crisis at the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso.
On Tuesday, striking lecturers at the institution agreed to suspend their industrial action after it emerged that the two owner-states had provided funds to pay a substantial fraction of the backlog of arrears of salaries and other allowances to the staff. This followed the completion of the financial auditing exercise by a reputable private auditing firm engaged as a measure to ensure accountability and transparency in the affairs of the university.
In a statement issued on Friday by its Public Relations Officer, Olawale Sadare, the APC in Oyo State regretted the situation that led to the closure of LAUTECH since December 2016 and urged stakeholders to always guide against a recurrence in the future “as all hands must be on deck to guarantee the future of the youths through sound and qualitative education”.
The statement added: “There is no doubting the fact the governors of the owner states of LAUTECH mean well for the Institution as they are both believers in education as the greatest legacy for the leaders of tomorrow. The current situation in LAUTECH Institutions – the university in Ogbomoso and the teaching Hospital in both Ogbomoso and Osogbo leaves much to be desired but the good news is that we have capable hands and passionate minds in Governors Ajimobi and Aregbesola as they are determined more than ever before to reposition and transform LAUTECH/LTHs into viable institutions of global standard.
“We therefore urged the management, staff, students and all other stakeholders to cooperate with the state governments of Oyo and Osun to actualize the dream of LAUTECH which would be to sustain its official rating as one of the best in the world. While we count on the governments to prioritize adequate funding of the institutions, we make a passionate appeal to the managements to guarantee accountability, transparency and service at all times for the good of the system.”