This medley of confused human and disgruntled elements frivolously recounted their usual and unsubstantiated allegations in a hunt to tarnish the hard earned reputation of the Vice Chancellor and rubbish his efforts in putting the school in the front row alongside best universities in the continent of Africa.

In their tantrums, they did not even spare the Governing Council of the University, which has become a model for good university governance. When did it become part of unionism to insult and disparage senior citizens who have volunteered to serve as members of council of a university and giving their time and other resources to ensure progress for the university?

Followers of unfolding events at the university over the last six years would recall that Professor Labode Popoola came on board at a time the institution was bankrupt and in need of intensive care to survive. The institution had been morally, ethically and financially amputated before the current Governing Council and the VC came to its rescue. This VC of proven integrity and global renown clinically performed the necessary but painful surgeries which eventually blocked all leakages and stopped corrupt transactions that nearly suffocated the institution into extinction.

Just like it was contained in their previous petitions to the University Council, State House of Assembly, EFCC, ICPC, SERAP and other organisations where the Vice Chancellor was exonerated of any illicit acts or wrongdoings, it was alleged that the Vice Chancellor purchased a particular land for the university along Odi-Olowo Road, Osogbo a couple of years ago. The said land was purchased from the savings made from the proceeds of the Post-UTME in 2017, which in the past was shared and pocketed by some individuals in the university. The current VC stopped that fraud and invested the fund for the University.

Disappointedly, these myopic and frivolous elements deliberately refused to tell the few people who may read their trash how land in that area has economically appreciated in recent times, which in turn is advantageous to the university’s investment in that regard.

The JAC mischievously penned that a million naira was expended on the University’s guesthouse whereas, it was established that these same people were encouraging the payment nearly two Million Naira rent per annum apart from the huge maintenance cost on a property they were using like a brothel. Under the leadership of Professor Popoola, the school decided to move to a guesthouse, half the rent of the previous one.

Also, I was told by a reliable source inside the university that nearly 400 Million Naira was wasted on the laboratory the JAC people wanted their sympathizers to crucify Professor Popoola for. The structure constructed during 2013 to 2015 which they call Central Laboratory was not fit to keep even pigs. In less than two years of opening the laboratory, it was confirmed that the entire place became ramshackle, started falling apart table. Those fighting the recent change mantra accepted the trash handed over to them because they had colluded with the contractors and benefitted from the scam to the detriment of Nigeria’s tax payers.

“For the avoidance of doubts, that TETFund Project is now being rehabilitated into a modern and state of the art laboratory, but certainly not with N200m as the discredited JAC mischievously claimed.” The source emphasised.

It was authoritatively gathered that the school Council used its prerogative to request for a bank facility to build hostels that are urgently needed. Why should that be an issue?

It is pertinent that the society should not forget so soon that these brigands masquerading as unionists aborted the history making visit of the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Prof Yemi Osinbajo to UNIOSUN to deliver a convocation lecture in November, 2018

They (JAC) did everything within their means to abort the foundation laying of a 13 Billion Naira world class teaching hospital in November, 2018 by the Chancellor of the University, who doubles as the benefactor of the project.

They (JAC) locked out, and delayed the then visitor to the University, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola who was making his farewell visit to the university for over eight hours on the convocation day.

They (JAC) blocked the revered Chief Bisi Akande who was being conferred with a doctoral degree at UNIOSUN from entering the campus. Baba Slanderers was in company with the equally revered General Alani Akinrinade and Prof Olu Aina on that day. These eminent elders of Nigeria were humiliated by these brigands.

They (JAC) sent several traditional rulers and parents who had come to felicitate with celebrants away on the convocation day.

Nemesis only caught up with them and the police charged them to court. Rather than showing sobriety and remorse, they keep on fouling the air with lies and blackmails. This certainly cannot help them.

The society needs to ask why the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Labo Popoola has become their target?

Is it a sin that he has brought sanity to an institution that was always in the news for negative reasons?
Is it a sin that he compelled some of the union leaders and their accolades to refund over 20 million Naira of TETFund money taken for conferences they refused to attend for over two years?

Is it a sin that the VC has blocked internal collusion with contractors for inflated contracts and substandard service delivery?
Is it a sin that he is entrenching and enforcing institutional discipline and academic culture?

None of his policies has negatively affected the institution or hinder its development, but rather enhancing the University’s reputation.

It would interest Nigerians to know that the discredited union brigands and their rogue accolades are only bemoaning the blocking of leakages by the VC. Without their usual knees on the school’s neck, the university is now breathing fresh air and is gradually becoming a model of what a university should be in Nigeria.

Instead of the so-called JAC and their coconspirators to repent, seek forgiveness, re-align with decency and allow free flow of prudent operations, they continue to unjustly attack the personality of the Vice Chancellor.

In my considered opinion, I think it’s high time the society called these brigands to order. This is purely a battle between proven integrity and personal vendetta. It is evident that UNIOSUN JAC doesn’t have the interest of the university at heart.

Wale Alabi writes from Osogbo, Osun state

The post UNIOSUN: A War Between Integrity And Personal Vendetta | By Wale Alabi first appeared on MegaIcon Magazine.

The post UNIOSUN: A War Between Integrity And Personal Vendetta | By Wale Alabi appeared first on MegaIcon Magazine.

The feud, which was resolved eventually after series of intervention by notable political icons and the National Universities Commission, has been recurrent at the emergence of every new government even when the governors share political membership.

The feud is usually sparked off by arguments about financial responsibilities. Both owners have pointed fingers at each other regarding failure to meet up to provision of grants and other financial roles to the school. However, available records show that between 2011 and 2019 Osun Government has committed up to 26b Naira, as against Oyo’s 4b Naira, as statutory subvention to the LAUTECH.

This is even as most of the University’s teaching and research structures, as well as the administration are situated in, and run from Ogbomoso, including the central administration of the University.

The implication of this is that the “gown-to-town” benefits of LAUTECH are mostly to the full advantage of the Oyo State Government, and specifically by the Ogbomoso town. Medium estate business flourishes in the town close to three decades running because of the fact that all the campuses of LAUTECH, but one, are established in Ogbomoso town.

The town situates seven faculties and the Post-graduate school of LAUTECH, where courses are taught in various fields of pure and applied science, medicine, agriculture, engineering and technology, environmental science. At least 300 administrative staff and more than 25,000 students of the school pay rents to house owners in Ogbomoso annually . In turn, these estate business operators pay taxes and levies, which adds to the revenues of the Oyo State Government monthly and annually.

Only the College of Health Science campus of LAUTECH is located in Osogbo, Osun State. It houses the 3-years clinical study for MBBS, Medical Laboratory Science and Nursing students which are just about a thousand.

Distastefully, a part of this lone structure of the institution is taken out of Osun state and is established in Ogbomoso. Specifically, the Pre-clinical years of study of the courses in the College of Health Science hold at the main campus in Ogbomoso.

THE FIFTH COLUMNISTS

When General Emilio Mola was leading four columns of troops towards Madrid during the 1936-1939 Spanish civil war, he declared that he had a “fifth column” inside the city. At that time, observers of the feud surrounding LAUTECH were not in existence. However, today, they appreciate how General Mola’s use of the expression, “fifth columnist”, best describes the undermining tendencies of some people, which have regularly surfaced almost at the beginning of new administration(s) in Osun and Oyo States with respect to the joint ownership of LAUTECH.

A plausible idea is that some overt or clandestine actions and activities of some partisan groups are aimed at ensuring that the objective of the founding fathers. regarding the joint ownership of LAUTECH is thwarted. This would be so where these fifth columnists are being tempted by what opinion moulders refer to as “structure reality”.

As opposed to the joint ownership idea which is mutually held and operated cognitively, the “structure reality” of the matter of LAUTECH ownership is the sum or aggregate of all that is real or existent of the buildings and structural facilities and management of the University, all of which are situated in Ogbomoso, Oyo State. According to this school of thought, such is the temptation factor by which the fifth columnists are being encouraged. The plan is to frustrate the other party, the Osun State Government, whose stake, infrastructure wise, is almost nothing.

It is thus reasonable to put into perspectives, what the stake looks like for the Osun State government. Only one, out of the entire structure of the university, is situated in Osun state. In the same vein, more than 90 per cent of the students and staff population of the school, fall in the Oyo State divide.

And going by the records of the financial commitments of the governments of the two states between 2011-2019, Osun government could be said to have more unnecessarily deployed resources to the joint-ownership course. This is, more so, with respect to the paltry 4b Naira subvention records of the Oyo State counterpart against the Osun’s contributions so far.

The 26b Naira subvention record that the Osun government committed within the periods would have made gargantuan impacts if such funds were deployed to the development of the polytechnics, colleges of education owned by government, including the Osun State University, as well as other tertiary institutions in the state.

INTERNAL REVENUE GENERATION OF BOTH UNIVERSITIES

The National Universities Commission, NUC, approved the establishment of the Osun State University on December 21, 2006, as the 30th State University and the 80th in the Nigerian university system. This record shows that the contentious LAUTECH had been established, 16 years earlier, with records of about five convocation.

Current population of LAUTECH’s regular students is about 35,000 as against UNIOSU”s 15,000. Clearly, the former is at greater advantage with regards to revenue generation. Ironically, this relatively older university always go cap-in-hand for funds to pay salaries of its workers and for other expenditures. So, where goes the generated revenues running to billions of Naira every academic session?

While the Osun State Government commits billions of Naira annually to the running of LAUTECH, a joint institution, it hardly received request for subvention from the Osun State University management. This is because with seven colleges in six campuses located in the six geopolitical zones of Osun State, enough revenues are generated and are equally expended judiciously, including the payment of staff salaries and other entitlements, as well as research grants. Therefore, one is encouraged to wonder how LAUTECH had been expending its generated revenues every session over the years.

Two years ago, a visitation panel, chaired by Chief Wole Olanipekun was set up to investigate the crisis rocking the LAUTECH. It was discovered that the school had no fewer than 97 different bank accounts in almost all the commercial banks in Nigeria. This is contrary to the policy of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy specifically put in place to promote transparency. Therefore, the Chief Olanipekun’s panel recommended that, “the accounts of the LAUTECH and its workforce must be audited”. This development constructs a very bad representation of the officials at the helm of affairs of LAUTECH, as well as members of the unions that identify as pressure groups in the School.

Needful to recall that the contentious LAUTECH was originally established through an edict signed on April 23, 1990 by Colonel Sasaeniyan Oresanya, the then military administrator of Oyo State. Its name was changed from Oyo State University of Technology (OSUTECH) to Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) after the separation of Osun State from Oyo State in 1991.

Twenty-six years later, a seeming rebirth of the disbanded OSUTECH was suspected, bearing the name- Oyo State Technical University, Ibadan. It is referred to as “The Tech-U”, and “Nigeria’s first and only technical university”, thereby robbing off the age-long characterisation of LAUTECH as the first technical oriented university in Nigeria.

“When elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers” is an African proverb which means that the weak get hurt in conflicts between the powerful.

With news headlines such as “Ladoke Akintola University of Technology ASUU disrupts ongoing exams”, “Now that LAUTECH calls off one strike, how long will it take to start another?”, and “LAUTECH: Group alleges plans to attack VC, workers from Osun”, it is it quite obvious that it not well with the University, and this has caused devastating experiences on the lives of thousands of students of the school.

The situation has gone most awry with recent report of an uncovered plans by some workers of the school, “who are from Oyo State, to attack the Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof Michael Ologunde, and others from Osun”.

In 2012, a Supreme Court ruling delivered by Justice Dahiru Musdapher, upheld the terms of settlement agreed to by the two states. By the rolling. “the Government of Oyo State by itself, Governor, Commissioners, Permanent Secretaries, or any officer or organ deriving title or authority from them, from taking any further step to give any directive or instruction contrary to the provisions of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology Law, 1990 (as amended), in particular, the joint ownership structure of the university”.

However, considering the current state of affairs In the university, a question seeking answer is: how healthy is the joint ownership idea of LAUTECH at the moment, particularly as the effect of the open feud has moved beyond the usual disruption of academics to the scenario of workers of the school battling against each other. After all, the law, made by man, is amendable or abrogatable by man.

Adebayo Rasheed Mabayoje, writes from Osogbo, Osun State.

The post LAUTECH: The Joint Business Gone Terrible | By Adebayo Mabayoje first appeared on MegaIcon Magazine.

The post LAUTECH: The Joint Business Gone Terrible | By Adebayo Mabayoje appeared first on MegaIcon Magazine.

In this interview with our reporter, he speaks on the challenges encountered during his school days as an undergraduate; his personality in school and other sundry issues. Excerpts:

Tell us about your educational background?

I attended Ojodu Primary School in Lagos after which I proceeded to Ojodu Secondary School and finished in 2004. After my secondary school education, I seek admission to Osun State University and gained admission in 2012 to study accounting. So four years the line, I ended up graduating this year from the Department of Accounting (Banking and Finance). I graduated with a First Class Degree. The convocation was held on April 6, 2017. I thank Maharaj Ji that everything went on fine.

You said you are a devotee of Maharaj Ji. Do your mates in school know this?

Yes of course! Even my lecturers are also aware of this because anywhere I go, I don’t hide my identity and they respect me for that.

How do you feel being a devotee of Maharaj Ji as a student?

I feel good because being a devotee of Maharaj Ji has really helped me so far because if not for Maharaj Ji, I wouldn’t have achieved this feat because back in the school, there were so many challenges but by Maharaj Ji’s  grace everything went on fine. All the courses that seems tough, I passed them all by Maharaj Ji’s grace and I came out in flying colours.

How did you become a devotee of Maharaj Ji?

Actually, I was born into One Love Family by my parents, so I grew up as a devotee of Satguru Maharaj Ji.

Is it that you were not a socialite while in school?

Well I am not really the social type but I was a public figure because I was the Class Rep from 100 Level through 400 Level. I was a public figure all through my stay in school but I don’t attend party. Definitely you will have female friends which is normal.

I only attended a dinner once and that was because of my status in the school. I was one of the king-makers in the academic setting because anybody that wants to come up as the SUG president, I am always involved and so because of my personality in school, I had to attend the party.

What type of personality were you?

As I said earlier, I was the Class Rep from 100 Level through 400 Level. I represented my department and the class in all aspect in the front of lecturers and even at times we were sent as representatives to the main  campus at Osogbo because we operate five campuses.

To be a First Class graduate of any University is not an easy task. How did you pass this hurdle of coming out with a First Class Degree?

The only thing I can say is that I was able to scale through the hurdle out of Maharaj Ji’s grace because it wasn’t easy. When I first gained admission into 100 Level I ended up with a C.G.P of 4.27 while in Second semester 100 Level I ended up with 4.5, so I started my First Class grade and journey from Second semester 100 Level. I even have a higher grade of 4.67 at 300 Level but along the line, some games played up like some of my courses that I suppose to score A I was being given B or C which I accept with faith but at the end of the day by Maharaj Ji’s grace I was able to come out with a First Class Degree.

How did you feel on the day of your convocation?

I felt great; I felt so happy and so special because it wasn’t easy and I can’t just stop thanking Maharaj Ji for that.

What’s your advice for other youths outside there who are looking up to this kind of feat ?

My advice is that they shouldn’t give up because to achieve something great is not always easy. The road is always  rough but they should keep on trying as an aphorism goes “joy will always end bitterness”. My fellow brothers outside there, I want to implore you that you should embrace Maharaj Ji because I would not have achieved this if not for Maharaj Ji.

I would advice them to keep using Maharaj Ji academically and they would excel .

The post Being a devotee of Maharaj Ji has really helped me so far – UNIOSUN first class student. first appeared on MegaIcon Magazine.

The post Being a devotee of Maharaj Ji has really helped me so far – UNIOSUN first class student. appeared first on MegaIcon Magazine.