LAUTECH will be reopened soon, Ajimobi tells protesting students
Olufemi Atoyebi, Ibadan
Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State on
Monday gave assurance to protesting students of the Ladoke Akintola
University of Technology, Ogbomoso, that the institution would be
reopened before the end of January, 2017.
The governor, who addressed the students
during a demonstration at the state secretariat, said he had reached an
agreement with his Osun State counterpart, Governor Rauf Aregbesola,
that both states would contribute the sum of N250m to address the
school’s challenges.
He said, “I have given instruction that
the school must resume before the end of January. I have called my
counterpart in Osun and we have agreed to contribute a minimum of N250
million each. We have invited the management of the institution and the
various unions to a meeting on January 11, 2017. We hope that the
meeting will help in fast tracking resumption of the university.”
Before moving to the state secretariat,
the students visited the Oyo State Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria
Union of Journalists’ secretariat in Mokola, Ibadan, calling on the
institution’s Chancellor, Senator Bola Tinubu, to intervene and rescue
the 26-year old institution from possible collapse.
The students, who carried placards
bearing various inscriptions, said the attitude of the two governors
toward the school was unacceptable. They rejected the alleged plan to
increase tuition in the university. The hike, our correspondent
gathered, was intended to make up for a shortage of funds resulting from
the reduction of the institution’s allocation from the Oyo State
Government to 25 per cent.
The protesting students also called for
the immediate and unconditional re-opening of the institution which was
shut down eight months ago.
While addressing the protesters, Ajimobi
said that a visitation panel had been established to find a lasting
solution to the problem of the institution. He said the panel had Chief
Wole Olanipekun (SAN) as the chairman.
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