By Sulaimon Olanrewaju
In 2010, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso (LAUTECH) was rated the best state university in Nigeria. It was also regarded as the eighth best in the country as well as Africa’s 76th best. The university’s medical programme was assessed as one of the best in Nigeria. Many of its faculties, especially the Faculty of Engineering, were rated quite highly. The university was a pride to the owner-states, the joy of its students and the glory of the host community as students from all the corners of the country flocked to the university.
But its ascent to that enviable height marked the commencement of its descent into ignominy as there was a sudden twist in the university’s narrative. Petty rivalry between the owner states sent peace on extended vacation in the university. Owing staff salaries became a common occurrence as the two states engaged in a blame game. Going on strike became the norm rather than the exception in the university. All of these had a telling effect on the university calendar. Medical students were spending between 10 and 12 years for a six-year programme. This soon cascaded down to other faculties. Sadly, the once celebrated university and a leading institution not just in the country but on the continent became the butt of jokes in the comity of tertiary institutions. It moved from being among the best 10 in the country to one of the laggards.
It became the choice of admission seekers who were left with no other choice. LAUTECH was a victim of adversarial politicking.
Not unexpectedly, the students were the major casualties as their studies were stunted. The frequency of crisis in the university that kept the students away from lecture rooms forced some students to leave the school for other institutions in Nigeria and elsewhere. Some of those who could not transfer their studentship elsewhere took to all manner of vices. Criminality soared among the students, Yahoo Plus became a fad, prostitution and cultism also gained ground. Thus, LAUTECH slid from being an ivory tower, where gentlemen and ladies were groomed, to a ghetto, the breeding place of societal menace.
LAUTECH became the anathema of scholarship and research; it became the ruin of its students, the pains of parents, the nightmare of its staff, the headache of host community and the humiliation of its owner-states.
The genesis of LAUTECH’s problem was the decision of Osun State to start its own university. That in itself wouldn’t have been an issue if not that it enervated Osun’s commitment to the LAUTECH project.
The state gradually reduced its contribution to the university’s upkeep, especially with respect to capital projects. This did not go down well with Oyo State Government, which tried as much as possible to keep fidelity with the terms of engagement. Irked by its counterpart’s unflagging recalcitrance, the Adebayo Alao-Akala administration made moves to appropriate LAUTECH to Oyo State.
Subsequently, the State House of Assembly passed a motion of disengaging from the joint ownership with a view to assuming the sole ownership of the university.
Of course, Osun State resisted the move by its co-owner to whimsically take over the jointly-owned university and this resulted in a paralysis of the institution.
That worsened the crisis in the institution and sent it into the crypt. That was the situation when the late Senator Abiola Ajimobi assumed office as Oyo State Governor. Ajimobi’s antidote to the LAUTECH crisis was to establish an Oyo State wholly-owned university. He went ahead to found the First Technical University. But that did not resolve the LAUTECH crisis; rather it pushed the endangered university further into the abyss. Subsequently, LAUTECH became orphaned by living parents.
Several attempts were later made to end the crisis in the university. One of such was the constitution of a visitation panel headed by Chief Wole Olanipekun, former Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the University of Ibadan Governing Council, to examine factors responsible for the perennial crisis at the institution and proffer solutions. The panel, which was inaugurated on October 19, 2016, sat for over three months and came up with a report, which it turned in on February 10, 2017. The two owner-states later set up a Technical Committee headed by Dr Gbade Ojo, who was the Chief of Staff to the Oyo State governor, “to produce a draft White-Paper on the Visitation Panel’s report.”
The Technical Committee also sat and came up with a White Paper but it was another futile effort.
On assumption of office in 2019, Governor ‘Seyi Makinde resolved to end the crisis in the university. He was determined to get LAUTECH up and running. He was resolute to get the students back in school. He was firm on getting the university to the point that it could fulfill its original mandate which is to train and groom young people who would be instrumental to the development of the state, the country and the world at large. So, he set to work to achieve this lofty goal.
After serious reflection, Makinde was convinced that the best way out of the LAUTECH crisis was sole ownership but he also realized that achieving that would not be a walk in the park because of ego and partisanship. So, he decided right from the outset to subjugate personal ego and political partisanship to the interest of the students, whose education had been hampered by the deleterious situation in the university.
Thus, he set up a committee on November 27, 2019, headed by Professor Ayodeji Omole to negotiate the sole ownership of the university with Osun State.
Fortunately, his counterpart in Osun State at the time, Chief Isiaka Gboyega, also had a view of liberating the university to achieve its potentials. Governor Gboyega demonstrated rare statesmanship and cooperated with Governor Makinde to rescue the students and give the university a new lease of life.
After a series of meetings, the two states were able to strike a deal on how to split the university between them.
The terms of resolution recommended by the National Universities Commission (NUC) was that while Oyo State would take over the main campus in Ogbomoso, the College of Health Sciences and the Teaching Hospital in Osogbo would go to Osun State. In addition, Oyo State was required to pay some money to Osun State.
With the lingering crisis behind him, Governor Makinde moved swiftly to reposition the university. To formalize the university’s new status, the Oyo State House of Assembly passed the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso Bill, 2020, which was later signed into law by Governor Makinde.
Then the Governor took steps to clear the backlog of unpaid salaries. He similarly increased the state’s investment in capital projects in the university. Makinde also constructed the access road to the university, the three-kilometer LAUTECH Under G Gate Stadium Road. Shortly after his assumption of office as the state governor, Makinde increased LAUTECH’s subvention from 25 percent, which he inherited, first to 50 percent and later 100 percent. The Governor also reduced the tuition fee by 25 per cent. With that done, the academic and non-academic staff members of the university were motivated to give their best to the institution. Thus, the university was able to hold its convocation in 2022, which was the first time in seven years.
As part of efforts to increase the capacity of the university to deliver value to the people of Oyo State in particular and the nation at large, the state government applied to the NUC to convert LAUTECH from a university of technology to a conventional university to allow for the teaching of other courses. The government also put in place measures to turn the university into a multi-campus institution.
The university has since introduced new courses such as Psychology, Mass Communication, Theatre Arts and Law in line with its conventional status. The Governor also went ahead to build a world-class College of Agricultural Sciences and Renewable Natural Resources in Iseyin, which was inaugurated in September 2023.
Governor Makinde’s efforts to reposition LAUTECH have yielded great results. Since 2021, LAUTECH has been ranked the Best State University in Nigeria and one of the best overall by different bodies, including the League of Directors of Academic Planning of all universities in Nigeria, the Times Higher Education and Webometrics.
Just recently, the university recorded 100 percent success in the accreditation of its courses by the National Universities Commission (NUC), as the commission accredited all the 31 programmes presented by the university. For LAUTECH, it has been a 180-degree turn.
Speaking on the development in the university, Miss Badrat Adeduntan Adeladun, a 500 level student, who is also the Chairman of LAUTECH Student Caretaker Committee, said the university has bounced back fully. She added that with what Governor Makinde has done for the university, he is unforgettable.
Definitely, LAUTECH will never forget Makinde. The university community will never forget that Makinde brought the university back from the crypt nor will it forget that Makinde enhanced its universality. Students of LAUTECH will never forget that Makinde rescued the university from a decade of decadence and restored their hope of uninterrupted studentship. The student body will never forget how Governor Makinde’s infrastructural interventions improved their learning conditions. The university workers will never forget how Governor Makinde’s provision of enabling environment has helped their career advancement. The university management will never forget how the Governor’s support changed the profile of the university from being crisis-prone to being crisis-free.
The business communities in Ogbomoso and Iseyin will never forget how the stability in the university has contributed to their business growth.
To everyone who has had anything to do with LAUTECH in the last five years, Governor Oluwaseyi Abiodun Makinde is simply unforgettable and that for a good reason.
Dr Olanrewaju is the Chief Press Secretary to Oyo State Governor.