LAUTECH CRISIS: A CALCULATED CONSPIRACY TO DESTROY THE UNIVERSITY
The Joint Action Committee of Senior Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and Non Academic Staff Union (NASU) LAUTECH Ogbomoso Branch have been keenly observing the misrepresentation of facts by the two owners’ states governments through their assistants, the Oyo state Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology and Osun state Commissioner for Information and Strategy respectively.
The Joint Action Committee therefore resolved to reply to these misrepresentations of facts and lies in order to put the record straight so that the public will be opportune to base their judgments and sympathy on the fact of the issue.
Our unions are based in the University and by extension, we are the operational tools and hands for the day – to – day management and running of the University. Based on that, the public can only rely on us for undiluted and unadulterated facts and figures about the University unlike the lame and unverified lies being peddled by the two owners’ state governments agents and wanted the public to believe. In fact, the governments are always economical with the truth and facts about the happenings in the University as a means to maliciously destroy and kill the 27 years old University.
What a disgrace to the acclaimed progressive governments?
Our unions always expected the Oyo state Commissioner for Education, Prof. Niyi Olowofela, who is also a member of the University community to know better the operation of a University but the contrary is the case.
Arising from the above, the good people of Oyo state, Osun state and Nigeria in general are hereby called upon to prevail on the two owners state governments to desist from these fruitless media campaigns of calumny and face the reality of full implementation of the visitation panel recommendations led by chief Wole Olanipekun SAN.
This call becomes imperative so that the lives of well over thirty thousand students and parents would not be in jeopardy and peril as a result of insensitive, irresponsive and irresponsible attitude of the two owners state governments to the plight of these vulnerable citizens.
In addition to the above and in response to the lie being told by Mr.Adelani Bederinwa, the Osun state commissioner for Information and Strategy that Osun state government is concerned with the plight of the students and that some element in the University were not sincere in resolving the present crisis. These are the fundamental questions to be asked from the Osun state government to determine their sincerity of purpose:
• That Osun state government had stopped the payment of monthly subvention to LAUTECH since December 2013 to date;
• That LAUTECH had been removed from the state budget allocation since 2014 to date;
• That Osun state did not include and capture LAUTECH in the 1st and 2nd FGN bailout money to the state; and
• That Osun state intentionally deleted LAUTECH from the beneficiaries list of 1st and 2nd tranches of Paris Club Refund to the state.
The above and the rest shady actions and inactions of the Osun state government is available for the public and the posterity to judge.
The Joint Action Committee (JAC) of SSANU and NASU is sincerely appreciated the good job being done by the Visitation panel led by chief Wole Olanipekun SAN and most particularly the recommendations of the panel that if they are sincerely follows and executed, the lasting and permanent solutions to the LAUTECH crisis would be achieved in short time.
However, the two owners state government, rather than fully putting into action the implementation of the well-researched recommendations of the Visitation panel, they deliberately chosen to embark on satanic and diversionary media campaign of calumny in order to distort and destroy the facts culled from the findings and recommendations of the chief Wole Olanipekun SAN led Visitation panel.
The public should ask them why they embarked on selective and isolated implementation and execution of the said recommendations. The answer is not far fetch, it is just a malicious act to destroy and kill the best legacy of the founding fathers of the University. History is sacrosanct!
Some people created LAUTECH, some built it but these governments wanted to destroy it.
Furthermore, labeling University staff who have not received salaries for solid nine months as ‘’ internal enemies’’ of the University by the Osun state Commissioner for Information and Strategy is disturbing and proved to the fact that these governments and Osun state in particular has nothing to offer to resolve the problem facing the University. Our unions believe in accountability, transparency and probity.
Therefore, we cannot and never prevent any act that will bring about accountability and transparency in the University only that such action should be in consonance with the laid down provisions of the law of the University. The University edict expressly stipulated that only the Governing Council can appoint the external Auditor to audit the University finances NOT THE GOVERNORS.
Enough of these governments rascality.
Moreso, the allegation that the University is Operating 97 bank accounts in the era of (TSA) is another calculated effort to blackmail the University so that the public will have sympathy for the government nonpayment of the staff salaries for almost nine months. This is unfair and shared wickedness on the part of the governments. The fact of the issue had been resolved by the Visitation panel through their findings and recommendations, so one would wonder what exactly did the two owners state governments wanted to achieve from this misrepresentation of fact and misleading the public. After all, both Governing Council and the Management members are government appointees and they should be bold enough to ask them question if need be rather than wrongly alleging the staff members for sabotaging the government action. We are concern mostly on the welfares and well beings of our members who have not been paid salaries for nine months at end of June 2017. This is hide and seek game and the public should be well guided from believing and tramp into their ploy.
On the issue of having ten Chief Accountants in the Bursary department which the two owners states governments are crying about is another sentiment being peddled by the agents of destruction. The Unions want to inform the public that LAUTECH was established 27 years ago and none of these chief Accountants were employed on the status but they were progressed to the present position through the promotion exercise having dully examined to qualify for the advancement. The Union want to know of which public university in Nigeria and abroad was LAUTECH being compared with in term of the number of the cadre? Obafemi Awolowo University,OAU Ile Ife, Osun state has 25 chief Accountants just to mention a few.
At this juncture, the public need to know that chief Wole Olanipekun led panel recommendations were up to 75 out of which was auditing of the finances of the university by the External Auditor to be appointed by the Governing Council (see page 89 of the Main report of the visitation panel VOL.I.) The report does not state that monthly salaries should not be paid to the staff while the External Auditor dully appointed by the Governing Council is ongoing. Rather, the panel recommended an immediate payment of N1.78bn by the two owners’ states government to offset part of the salaries arrears of the staff. This is a selective and isolated implementation of the panel recommendations.
The lame and unverified information by a whole commissioner for Information and strategy in Osun state in unhealthy comparison between UNIOSUN and LAUTECH is also worrisome to the entire good reasoning people of Osun and Oyo state.
The Joint Action Committee of the Staff Unions wishes to state that the statement is not true and more felt highly disappointed that it was coming from the Commissioner of the State of Osun who is supposed to be more knowledgeable about the affairs of LAUTECH.
Below is the table showing the comparison of school fees charged by LAUTECH and UNIOSUN:
COMPARISON OF UNIOSUN AND LAUTECH TUITION FEES
FACULTIES UNIOSUN
(N) LAUTECH (N) DIFFERENCE (N) NON SCIENCES 95,000.00 65,000.00 30,000.00
SCIENCES 100,000.00 65,000.00 35,000.00
MEDICAL 135,000.00 65,000.00 70,000.00
The differences in the fees charged are vividly indicated on the table above. This is a far-cry from the false information being fed the public.
Also, it is unfair of the Governor of the state of Osun through his commissioner to compare the finances of LAUTECH with many Professors with UNIOSUN that has only twenty (20) Professors while LAUTECH has excess of 110 Professors on its payroll. LAUTECH is twenty-seven (27) years old while UNIOSUN is eleven (11) years old. Rationally and with a sound mind, there is no basis for the comparison of the expenditures of an eighty year old man with the expenditures of a ten (10) year old boy. This is the analogy that fits LAUTECH and UNIOSUN.
It is an open secret that UNIOSUN takes 30% of personnel cost from the government up till now. It makes up for the rest from Internally Generated Revenue (IGR). Trust fund of 5% from all Local Government (LG) funds that has always been accruable by UNIOSUN has NEVER been enjoyed by LAUTECH. We expect Government to be fair when shying away from its responsibilities. Where is the acclaimed self sufficiency of the University?
Governments of Oyo and Osun called themselves “PROGRESSIVES” therefore they did not allow the University to change tuition fee. The fees charged are on heads ranging from Registration of students to utility. Any discerning mind can check LAUTECH website to confirm the fees charged by LAUTECH.
This boils down to the lame comparison that UNIOSUN has twelve thousand (12,000) students while LAUTECH has about twenty-seven thousand (27,000) therefore it should fund itself from fees charged. The fees that cannot buy chemical and maintain structures for just six months!
One wonders the number of pensioners in UNIOSUN compared to the number in LAUTECH. Pension paid by LAUTECH is more than Ten Million naira (N10,000.000.00) monthly as well as huge sum for Gratuity but UNIOSUN has no Retiree, so no pension is paid to retirees.
A specialised University of Technology like LAUTECH should not be compared to UNIOSUN. There are Laboratories that require maintenance and purchase of chemicals. These are money consuming areas that could not be compared with UNIOSUN.
The cumulative effects of Governments nonchalant attitude to the problems of funding in LAUTECH is multi-dimensional.
The destiny of the children who are mostly indigenes of Oyo and Osun States is being toyed with. It could spell doom in the nearest future.
The position of our Unions is very clear on Joint ownership status and its attendant’s issues in line with the dictate of the University Edict and the recommendations of the Visitation panel led by chief Wole Olanipekun SAN and we should not be dragged into misgivings about the ownership tissue.
At present, enrolment of students in LAUTECH has declined tremendously. Parents now prefer to send their children to a more stable University.
Also, the rating of the University in the Committee of Universities has dropped. It is a state of sublimity to ridiculous. This boils down to the quality of the certificate being issued by the University.
All stake-holders, students, parents, staff, pensioners and others have suffered immensely due to Governments attitude to the plight of the University.
It is pertinence to let the public know the intention and systematic steps taken by these governments to wantonly destroy the Yoruba race heritage called Ladoke Akintola University of Technology,Ogbomoso.
It would interest the public to know the state of things as regard the Internally Generated Revenues and the sources of the University.
1. That we have 26,360 undergraduates at a flat rate of N65,000.00 which was total to N1,713,400,000 Billion naira annually,
2. That we have 2000 undergraduate part-time students at an average rate of N100,000 which was amounted to N176,102,500 million naira,
3. That we have 1,561 post-graduate degree Academic programme students at rate of N76,750 which also amounted to N119,806,750 million.
4. That there were 2,601 of professional post graduate Degree programme students at the rate of N100,000 which amounted to N260,100,000 million, and
5. That Other sources of Internally Generated Revenue which was amounted to N50 million.
The grand total of the IGR to the university annually was N2,319,409,250 per session, all things being equal while the total overhead expenses stands at N6, 816, 258, 509. 14 for the payment of monthly salaries alone. The other expenses are exclusive such as maintenance of the machine and equipment, chemical to the laboratories, payment of utilities etc.
It is crystal clear that LAUTECH IGR was just 33.3% of its total overheads expenditures and it cannot be self-sufficiency. Therefore, the two owner states governments should be alive to their statutory responsibilities of the payment of monthly subvention to the University.
This is the total subventions indebted to the university as at December 31, 2016:
1. Oyo state = N1, 531, 890,646.48 billion
2. Osun state = N5, 350, 428,400 billion
The total subventions indebted to the university as at APRIL 30, 2017:
3. Oyo state = N2, 715,729,726.22 billion
4. Osun state = N5, 350,428,400.42 million
The above was the state of the outstanding of the subvention owed the university by the two owners states governments.
As the University started collapsing, the University Management, in a desperate effort to prevent total collapse, resorted to payment of salaries and allowances from the Internally Generated Revenue. The total Internally Generated Revenues amount cannot go beyond when it stopped and the University Management ran out of fund. Staff were being owned salaries and allowances and the University could not maintain the laboratories and equipment in them. What a pitiful condition?
The above precarious financial situation was constantly being brought to the notice of the Governors of Oyo and Osun States, yet they were not bothered. Rather than address the issue at hand, they resorted to witch hunting of staff members and they have perfected plans to lay off the staff and completely wipe off the Faculty of Management Sciences.
Unfortunately for the Yoruba race and the people of Nigeria, Governor Isiaka Ajimobi of Oyo State and Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State were elected under the banner of All Progressive Congress (APC). For three (3) consecutive years, Governor Rauf Aregbesola neither remitted salary subvention to Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, nor paid the Osun States part of capital grant. Governor Isiaka Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State also owes Salary and Allowances and Capital grant running to two (2) years.
The lofty ideals of founders of the University, the sweat of the poor indigenes who contributed from their hard-earned income, and he destiny of the students who are mainly Yorubas are now being wasted with impunity by Governors Isiaka Ajimobi and Rauf Aregbesola.
It is worthy of note that all the facilities in LAUTECH are down. There are no chemicals in the laboratories and the equipment is no longer functioning. Frequent industrial action in form of strikes have truncated the academic programmes so much that students who were admitted during the 2014/2015 academic session are still in the first semester of the first year when they are supposed to be in part three. Students who were offered admission in 2016/2017 academic session and are supposed to have started the second semester of part one are still at home, yet all these did not bother Governors Isiaka Ajimobi and Rauf Aregbesola.
In clear terms, Governors Isiaka Ajimobi and Rauf Aregbesola have destroyed the mission and vision of the founders of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, they have made nonsense of the contributions of all the indigenes of Oyo and Osun States towards the launching of LAUTECH, and they have murdered the glory of the Yorubas and Nigeria.
It is evident from the devil-may-care attitude of Governors Isiaka Ajimobi and Rauf Aregbesola to the horrible plight of LAUTECH that their mischief is to ensure that LAUTECH does not survive to enable University of Osun, owned by Osun State Government and the Technical University, Ibadan, owned by Oyo State Government, to survive. Each State Governor wants to have a University owned by his State, thereby relief his State from the burden of the expenses of LAUTECH. It is natural that when a slave is being owned by two masters, each of the masters will shy away from the burden of the care required by the slave; the result is that the slave suffers. This is the plight of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso (LAUTECH), being a slave being co-owned by two masters but each of the masters does not want to be responsible for its care.
Could it be a ploy to deliberately rough handle LAUTECH such that the Yorubas would condemn it for auction? Beware. The Yoruba race contains wise men. LAUTECH is not for sale.
The situation of LAUTECH is unique as the only University owned by two State Governments. The uniqueness is supposed to be an advantage over other universities owned by only one State if the present Governors of Oyo and Osun States are responsible and identified with the vision and mission of the sages who founded the University.
Ladoke Akintola University of Technology have made significant contributions to the human capital development of Nigeria in the area of technology. Also, the University has been able to put Nigeria among the international communities in the area of research. In Nigeria, the University is one of the foremost universities of technology available. If it is allowed to die in the hands of Governors Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State and Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State, Nigeria as a whole has a lot to lose.
First, the wheel of progress being made by Nigeria in the area of Technology will be slowed down as researches conducted by both students of lecturers in the University are less likely to see the light of the day at the demise of the University.
Not only that, human capital development is the bed-rock of the development of any nation. All the economically advanced countries of the world rely on technology; hence they do not toy with it. If Nigeria aims at technological advancement to be able to team up with the advanced economies of the world, it should not fold its arms as a University of Technology rots in the hands self-centred and unprogressive individuals who parade themselves as progressives.
Any University is expected to impact positively on its immediate community. This, LAUTECH has been doing throughout Western Nigeria. The University has trained the youths in the West and other parts of the country in the area of technology thereby improving positively on human capital and socio-economic development.
It is not an overstatement that the existence of a University brings about universal development hence it should be nurtured for maximum benefit. The Governors of Oyo (Abiola Ajimobi) and Osun (Rauf Aregbesola) have lost grip of LAUTECH to enable them focus on the State universities which they have established. It is on this note that the Joint Action Congress of the staff unions in the University, comprising the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU), hereby passionately appeal to the good people Federal Republic of Nigeria home and abroad to prevails on the two owners state governments to face the reality by releasing adequate funds to the University and to desist from the fruitless mission they embarked upon on media so as not jeopardize the lives and future of over thirty thousand students of the University. We also appeal to the Federal Government of Nigeria to save LAUTECH from the extinction planned for it by the present Governors of Oyo and Osun States to hands-off and take over the University totally.
Thank you for taking your time to read our position.
ALUTA CONTINUA VICTORIA ASCERTA
Yours in the struggle
- Comrade Fajoye Hamzat O.
SSANU/JAC Secretary
