Oyo Has The Financial Strength To Fund LAUTECH — Makinde Assures

Oyo State Governor said adequate funding of LAUTECH will not be a problem.

News Rain Nigeria reports that the Oyo State Governor, Engr. Seyi Makinde has on Saturday explained that the adequate funding of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology Ogbomoso (LAUTECH), will not be a problem for the State.

Governor Makinde answering questions through a phone call on one of the popular Radio in Ibadan the Oyo State Capital on Saturday morning, disclosed that the funding of LAUTECH would not pose as difficult a challenge for the State, as its expenses had already been catered for in the State’s 2021 budget.

Oyo Has The Financial Strength To Fund LAUTECH — Makinde Assures

Makinde through his response to the program on Fresh FM noted that the State has been taking full financial responsibility for the institution since the beginning of the year 2020, stressing that he went to meet the Osun State governor, Gboyega Oyetola recently and implored him to let other factors apart from politics reign on the issue of the institution and the fate of the students and their lecturers which informed the agreement to cede LAUTECH to Oyo State.

The Governor said, when we came in, we said Oyo State will fund for January to July, and Osun for the other part, but for some reasons, when we came in we had to intervene and for this year 2020, Oyo State has been funding LAUTECH alone and we have appropriated enough money in the 2021 budget to continue doing this.

“I went to my brother, Gboyega Oyetola and I spoke to him to let us keep ego aside, I explained to him that it is a universality and it should be universal and he saw reasons with me and we give God the glory. I remember my time at UNILAG, I did not even know where my lecturers hail from.

“Now the real work has start we have to ensure it is well funded and it contributes to the economy of Ogbomosho and Oyo State, I will be going to Ogbomosho to meet with the stakeholders very soon, however, I want to plead with the lecturers that there is no Osun forum, no Oyo forum,”

“Nothing is going to change. Of course, we have issues with how the University has been running in the past, we have to change it but it won’t matter where you come from, there won’t be Osun must go, it is a university, we have what it take to put LAUTECH where it used to be nationally and also put it on African and international ranking.

Governor Makinde while responding to issues of assets of the institution noted that the processes of distribution of assets of the institution were transparent, as it was valued and monitored by the Nigeria University Commission (NUC) and whatever in each of the two States belonged to the individual State while lecturers and students from each State would enjoy what they used to enjoy before the current situation.

News Rain Nigeria recalled that the NUC on Friday morning ceded the jointly State-owned University between Oyo and Osun states to Oyo State, and this development has been commended by the people of the State, the Southwestern region of the country, most especially the parents, lecturers, and students of the institution, who believes that the development will put an end to various issues which always resulted in the incessant strike actions by the staff of the institution.