by Busari Azeezat

It had only started as a case of nonpayment of allowances. The school that was held in place by IGR had suddenly gone broke. The visitors won’t pay subventions. They want the University to live on her own. The unions would later go on strike and the whole world would sympathize with the students. The school resumed for sometime and now the state of the institution cannot be fully ascertained. No unions would work, No visitor would pay. The school management isn’t saying anything on the true state of the institution. Time wasted cannot be accounted for, we’re afraid our great citadel would fall in no time.

May we also not forget that these striking academics could seek employment elsewhere judging by their level of qualifications. The case of over 50 Resignation of Nurses from the Teaching Hospital comes to play. Lack of funds seem to be just one of several mosquitoes, sucking into the blood of the institution.

The fault in our foundation

LAUTECH was first established as Oyo state University of Technology before Osun was carved out of Oyo. The whole point was so Oyo could have a university of her own. Remember during Akala’s regime and how he rushed to complete a college of health sciences in Ogbomoso before he handed over(2010)? How he tried so only Oyo could own the institution? Why was UNIOSUN established in 2006? Why are we having only the students and staff making the media rounds and not the visionaries of the institution? Could the case of ownership have jumped into their minds? Why did Ajimobi make plans to set up a technical university in his first term as governor? Let’s also not forget the time some thugs invaded the school premises, asking pain staff of pain indigenes of the institution to vacate (Tribune newspaper, May 30,2017).
Yet the visitors say, according to the court’s verdict of Mar 22, 2012, that the issue of the institution’s joint ownership cannot be overemphasized.
One cannot but agree with that Soun of Ogbomosoland when he pointed out that the joint ownership was a failed experiment.

The IGR palaver

According to the VC, the Internally Generated Revenue paid salaries for 18 months; meaning the visitors have been neglecting their obligations for 18 months before the 2016 strike.
The visitors didn’t think of setting up a committee or to audit the accounts then,  they practically didn’t care. They would only raise their voices of how the institution should be able to run on her own when the media ask. The school has no other means of generating income save the annual admissions an

The silent vice chancellor and the inactive governing council

Every step through this crisis, only the ASUU officials and the distressed students have made their position known. The VC and the school management still hasn’t explained why they had sent students home in June 2016, even when ASUU declared strike in September 2016. The school management is still dumb about a second semester calendar they released in April 2017 and why school didn’t resume even though ASUU didn’t declare an indefinite strike until June 2017. We don’t know their stand. No little wonder students fried the VC’s death Akara on the 16th of May, 2017. He’s way too silent about the whole issue.

In the end, everyone has a stake in this, students have too. Should it all go on like this and the nation complain of no peace?  And we continue to turn out unproductive youths in our Nigeria? What then is this change we had appealed and voted for? A change for the worse? Students are crying, save our falling Citadel. Save the legacies of Awolowo. Save LAUTECH

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Op–ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija

Busari Azeezat is a pained student of LAUTECH. A member of the Union of Campus Journalists, LAUTECH and the President of the same organization.