- Says Nobody Will Witchhunt Osun-Born Workers
The governor of Oyo State, Engineer Seyi Makinde has given a comprehensive explanation of how the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso ‘debacle’ was resolved.
Makinde, while speaking via a telephone conversation on Saturday morning on a popular Fresh 105.9 radio programme monitored by PMParrot in Ibadan submitted that he actually initiated the process of total acquisition of the university immediately he took over as the governor of Oyo State last year.
His words “I went and met with my brother governor in Osun State, Mr Adegboyega Oyetola and pointedly told him that we should forget ego and take steps to resolve the issue of ownership of the institution. He saw reason with me and the processes began.
“I want to use this opportunity to thank God and all the stakeholders who facilitated the process. We thank the National Universities Commission too.
“Now that the University fully belongs to Oyo State, we are prepared to continue to fund it. Afterall, I can say that since we came into power, we have been funding it most of the time.”
Makinde also continued “let me also tell stakeholders at the university that henceforth, there should not be anything like Osun or Oyo Forum there anymore. There should only be LAUTECH forum.”
He also submitted that despite securing the ownership of the institution, he believes that there is no victor or vanquished.
“The students and other stakeholders in the institution are the victors. It is a win-win situation. Because with the development, we will fund LAUTECH and this will bring further development to Ogbomoso and indeed, Oyo State. If we are craving for technological development, we now have the opportunity. We have already allocated much for the school in the 2021 budget.
While speaking on the faiths of the Osun State-born workers in the school, the governor said “As far as I am concerned, this really should not come to play. If you are efficient and you add value to the running of the school, you should not have any problem. Nobody will witch-hunt anybody. More people will come to work there from all over the world. Don’t forget that it is a University.
“As a matter of fact, after I won the gubernatorial election last year, I was at the University of Botswana in South Africa where I assured them that we would have working relationship with them there. This will still happen by God’s grace.
On the issue of asset and liability sharing, Makinde revealed that an international consulting firm was engaged and it did a thorough job under the watch of NUC.
Packaged by Olayinka Agboola
