Osun students warn Oyo against bid to acquire LAUTECH

The leadership of the National Association of Osun State Students(NAOSS), on Friday warned Oyo State government to shelve what it called the “fraudulent move” to acquire Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, LAUTECH, Ogbomoso.

The institution is jointly owned by the Oyo and Osun state governments.

The Association also warned the Oyo State government to stop politicising the issues, urging it instead to present its facts to controvert the claims by the Osun state government, if it had any, on the funding of the institution.

The concerned students stated this during a peaceful protest staged in Osogbo, to register their displeasure over the attempt to malign Osun concerning LAUTECH funding.

The protesting students were armed with placards, bearing different inscriptions such as: “Oyo, stop playing politics with our future; Oyo must release its subvention figures to LAUTECH since 2013 to public; Osun released N1billion to LAUTECH in 2017; Oyo, tell the public what you contributed, Oyetola we are behind you; Oyo, stop using rhetoric as governance strategy, fulfil your obligation to LAUTECH.”

Addressing a joint press conference, in Osogbo, shortly after the protest, Chairman of the National Association of Nigerian Students/Joint Campus Committee (NANS/JCC), Comrade Abidoye Omololu and President National Association of Osun State Students (NAOSS), Comrade Oderinwale Elisha, the students also advised the Oyo state government to study all agreements pertaining to the LAUTECH issue.

According to them, those agreements will help the state to see the LAUTECH case “more honestly and clearly,” adding that “the Supreme Court had laid to rest how LAUTECH’s divorce can be effected. Should that be Oyo’s wish, it should simply follow the protocol and stop blackmailing Osun.”

“From 2013 to date, Osun alone has been paying the salaries of the workers of  specifically LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, Osogbo, and as we speak, it has expended over N16bn. Ironically, within the same period, Osun has also committed over N9 billion to the funding of LAUTECH, Ogbomoso. So, cumulatively,   from 2013 to now, Osun has expended over N25 billion on LAUTECH. Oyo State should tell the world its own level of commitment?