Yemisi Izuora
Students of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso have appreciated the commitment of the Oyo State Government towards resolving the crisis rocking the University.
They particularly commended the Governor, Engineer Seyi Makinde, for taking time off his busy schedule to visit the University on Tuesday, and his promise to release a grant of N500 million to the authorities of the University and the trade unions amid fresh threats to shut down the institution over unpaid salary arrears.
The students, in a statement signed by their spokesman, Abiodun Oluwaseun aka Laurel, maintained that following Governor Seyi Makinde’s visit to the University last Tuesday and his promise to release the N500 million grant, the University “is set to resume, with staff members smiling again ahead of the festive period.”
This is just as the students hailed the Governor for fulfilling his electioneering promise to increase the budgetary allocation until it matches the UNESCO suggestion for education budget, noting that the 22.37 per cent allocation to education in the 2020 Budget proposal laid before the House of Assembly was not only historical but also a solid foundation for the transformation of the education sector.
Governor Makinde had, during the visit, where he met with stakeholders of the institution, offered that Oyo State Government would release the sum of N500 million to the institution on the condition that the University management and the unions would come up with a modality for disbursement in a manner that will satisfy all parties.
The statement read: “One ought to give thanks when favoured with kindness; and this is in no other reason than the kindness of our amiable Governor, the people’s man, our Godsent, His Excellency, Engr. Seyi Makinde, for sparing time out of his busy schedules to attend to the cries of students and staffs of our institution, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso.
“It was not just a visit, it was a remarkable one and a date with destiny, a record-making one, as it is the first of its kind that a sitting Governor would physically appear in the institution after his election and was received by all and sundry.
“As if it were not enough to just visit, the Governor pledged the sum of N500 million to tidy all that is necessary for the school to resume pending the time Oyo State finds a lasting solution to the crisis rocking the institution.
“We view this as goodwill, and it is worthy of applause and commendation, as we ought to celebrate every act of humanity to set as example for all.
“We were also pleasantly surprised the day after Governor Makinde’s visit to LAUTECH, as the Oyo State Government also increased its budgetary allocation for Education in 2020 to 22.3 per cent. This shows the interest of the people’s Governor in education and the vision he has for all the students in the state. We really appreciate this.
“The gratitude to one’s benefactor ought to know no end; and so we are promising to always make the Governor proud with our support and progressive cooperation, and also by living by standards worthy of support and law-abiding, because in the words of JF Kennedy, the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.”