Oyo Will Approach Court To Demand for Full Ownership of LAUTECH, If - Makinde

The Executive Governor of Oyo state, Engineer Seyi Makinde has pointed out that if all options fail to ensure that Osun State discharge its financial responsibility to Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, LAUTECH, his administration would approach the court to demand for the full ownership of the institution.

He lamented the attitude of the government of Osun State for its failure to do the needful as well as not acting in line with the agreement the two states that owned the university signed.

He said, “Yesterday, I received the Governing Council of LAUTECH and we discussed. They told me that the students may not be able to start their exam scheduled to start next week thereabout because the lecturers want to embark on strike as they are still being owed salaries. Before then, when I was informed about the state of the school, I asked that the file of the school be brought to me and I signed all the necessary documents.

 According to arrangement, Oyo State is to pay the salary of the staff from January till June.

We have paid it. Osun State is to pay from July till December, it has not paid it and that is why the staff want to go on strike. Things cannot continue like this”.

He explained further, “In 2010, my predecessor, Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala and Olagunsoye Oyinlola signed agreement each state should go its separate ways. Nine years after, nothing has happened.

 Governor of Osun State and I will hold meeting on this. I feel bad that some students in that school are spending extra four years due to this situation.

If Oyo State has to pay again for July till December, we will pay so that the students can do their exam. I will ensure that there will not be any strike.

There is going to be a different approach to running of LAUTECH. If a couple do not understand each other, they go to court for a divorce. I will not shy away from divorcing Osun State on the issue of LAUTECH”.

Speaking on his plan for agriculture, the governor promised to upgrade all the farm settlements in the state to farm estates, which will have state of the art facilities for the inhabitants. “There will be good road network in the estate.

There will be schools there. All the things that the settlers of the estates will need will be there and there will not be any reason for them to think that they are missing anything that is in the town”, Makinde said.
On education, Makinde noted that he has concluded arrangements on how to ensure that students have qualitative education, saying that soon, students who want to sit for final examination like SSCE would be made to do extra lesson.

The governor said that the extra lesson will hold from 2pm to 4pm from Monday to Thursday and 9am to 1pm on Saturday adding, “We have compiled past questions into a book form. We will give all the final year students whether in public or private schools this book free of charge.

 Then we will make them to do compulsory lessons. I now appeal to the parents to release their children to participate in the lesson programme.

 They should not send them to streets to hawk for them when they are supposed to be in the classroom. They should know that when these children succeed, they will take good care of them in future”.

On his administration’s resolve to tackle the issue of security in the state, Makinde stated that new security vehicles are about to be delivered to the state, adding that he may not commission them but people will soon see them on the streets.

The governor, however, lamented the absence of accountability in some institutions in the state, berating state hospitals and tertiary institutions for not been transparent in the spending and management of the resources put in their care.