₦airaland Forum

The Oyo State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has uncovered a plot by some individuals belonging to opposition parties in the state to release an X- rated doctored video. The fake video currently being edited in a studio in a discreet location in Ibadan contains images of nude ladies dancing for the Governor of Oyo state. This is in the characteristic malicious manner of attacking the integrity of top political figures in the state through outright falsehood. It would be recalled that a video of a lady spraying dollars at a party in Holland was recently recycled on the internet purportedly as Governor Ajimobi's daughter.
The Oyo State APC wishes to use this medium to alert security agencies, National Film and Video Censors Board, National Communications Commission and other relevant bodies with a call to action against the perpetrators.
In addition, the general public is advised to beware of such video materials, desist from uploading, sharing or broadcasting such illicit content.

The Oyo State APC urges the people to avoid being misled and misinformed by these unscrupulous elements, who are in the habit of spreading falsehood and fabricated reports to the unsuspecting general public.

The party is committed to unmasking those that are always in the habit of spreading falsehood in the name of politics.

- Signed Dr Abdul Azeez Olatunde, Director of Media, Publicity, APC

What does this comment have to do with anything? We are discussing the facts of the matter, you are talking about defending the govt. The facts are in the article above, maybe you should read it again.

ERockson:
And this writer might be a student. Imagine you defending the government that has wrecked education with your have baked knowledge.

Oyo state has been the center of news in the last couple of weeks, mostly because of happenings in the educational sector of the state. Again, just yesterday, the state governor came under attack from the renowned legal luminary and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Chief Femi Falana, while speaking at the ceremony graduation of the 2017 Class of Philosophy, the Dominican Institute, Ibadan on Thursday, 8th June, 2017.

On the surface, going by emotions, the neutral observer may think Chief Femi Falana made many points, especially with the spate of misdirected media frenzy following the events in the Ladoka Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, which is jointly owned by the Oyo and Osun states.

But, on a much deeper inspection, you will observe that, most of the issues touched on by Mr. Falana are just unnecessary sensationalism.

In his tirade, Mr. Falana pointed at the issue of Lautech; while castigating the governor on his handling of the issue, he began with the following: “How can a governor who believes in the legacy of the late Obafemi Awolowo treat students by saying “I am a constituted authority, you have to come and beg me before I reopen the School.”

First off, in the incident involving the Governor and the students of the Lautech at the State Secretariat, Ibadan a few weeks ago, the governor never made the above statement. The Governor, through his media aides at different times, has explained what transpired at the encounter. Contrarily, while addressing the rowdy students who had come to the government house in protest, the governor was reported to have made the statement as follows: “I understand that you are aggrieved and, even then, you must be respectful to constituted authority”

How the learned SAN could misunderstand and misrepresent such a direct, point blank statement, is cause for serious concern.

Mr. Falana also mentioned the LAUTECH issue, and, while attempting to blame the governor, betrayed a serious lack of knowledge of the nuances and details of the ongoing LAUTECH situation. The governor has repeatedly state, over the last couple of months, some of the solutions they were working on for the Lautech situation.

You will agree with me, that, the Lautech situation escalated when the state revenue hit a huge brick wall, following the crash in the price of crude oil in the international market, and the onset of the recession from which Nigeria is currently trying to crawl its way out. The state government immediately sprung to action, and called for a review of the operations of the institution, to ensure that all immediate and future problems are resolved, and a workable plan is developed to ensure that it is well funded and salaries are paid, both in the short and the long term.

The state government thus constituted a visiting auditing panel, headed by another legal luminary Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), to interrogate the immediate causes of the problem, not limited to funding alone, and ensure that a plan is developed to sustain the institution. The panel, upon the fulfillment of its mandate, is to submit its findings to the leadership of the school and the state government, on the proposed funding and maintenance plan for the institution. An Education Trust Fund is also being set up, which when concluded, will ensure that Oyo state owned institutions are properly funded and run.

While also addressing the graduands, the legal luminary also mentioned that Oyo state has been terrible in WAEC performance, coming 26th in the last year rankings in terms of WAEC performance by States in Nigeria. What the learned SAN failed to mention, is that, in the last 6 years since Ajimobi became Governor, Oyo state has gradually and consistently risen, albeit slowly, in these rankings; from 35th position to 26th.

Also, as a direct result of the policy abolishing mass promotions in Oyo state, as was the case in the years before Ajimobi, this year, Oyo state rose in the rankings in the 2017 NECO exams, to an enviable 2nd position Nationwide; these would assure the unbiased reader, that the legal luminary’s statement that the State Government has had nothing to show for Education in the last 6 years is false and unfounded.

One would also expect that, as a respected member of the society, the legal luminary will understand that free education is only mandated at primary level, and, given the cost of delivering quality education at tertiary level, especially given the current economic situation, free tertiary education is yet unattainable and may take a while before it can be delivered. Also, the UN standard as mentioned by the esteemed legal luminary is not mandated, as even the proponents understand that each government has to adapt to its immediate realities in its budgetary allocations, and a 26% allocation might not be realistic for a government’s current or immediate situation.

In conclusion, while the temptation is very high for one to lap up the statements of a respected member of the society, responsibility behooves on everyone to take a step back from the issues raised, and analyze them based on their individual merits, before leaping to conclusion.

Mr. Falana goofed on this, and a man of his stature should issue a retraction, and an apology.

HAVE YOU EVER ASKED WHY?

To the average observer, the crisis currently besetting the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso began a few years ago under the control of the progressive governors of Oyo and Osun state, but anyone who is well informed and conversant with the historical antecedents regarding LAUTECH as an institution, will agree that the LAUTECH crisis emanated in the 90s; few years after its creation.

Admittedly, the crisis at the time was minimal and manageable until the Alao Akala administration in Oyo state began the ownership tussle, which would intensify and deepen the crisis, and eventually create a wide communication gap between members of LAUTECH community, leading ultimately to the creation of factions and opposing sides.

I recollect how some indigenes of Ogbomosho assaulted, attacked and chased Osun state indigenes out of LAUTECH during the ownership tussle and how some members of staff, who were indigenes of Osun state, suffered great abuse as a result of Alao-Akala led administration's decision.

As a direct offshoot of this brouhaha, state funds that would have been useful in developing and maintenance of facilities and processes within the institution were utilized in the construction of a deficient, ill equipped, and quite frankly, unnecessary teaching hospital. The hospital was hurriedly constructed and commissioned just a few days to the expiry of that administration’s term. After Ajimobi was sworn in as Governor of Oyo state, he and his counterpart in Osun thus became visitors of this institution; a political truce was brokered, and the institution enjoyed some respite. This truce even led to the reduction of tuition fees as paid by the students.

Now to the present day; the simple truth is that, whereas Oyo state has borne the brunt of the Lautech crisis, and is being held fully responsible for the non-payment of salaries and whatnot, the Osun state government hasn’t been properly chastised for the role it has (not) played so far. In the Statement of Accounts released by LAUTECH management during the presentation of the Vice-Chancellor at the Oyo State House of Assembly, it was stated unequivocally that Osun’s debts on subventions to Lautech stood at 5.7billion naira, while Oyo’s was 1.8billion naira.

Osun State has not been paying its part of the LAUTECH subventions for the past three years, while the Oyo State Government has been meeting its monthly obligations. LAUTECH is a joint ownership institution, it is therefore the responsibility of both owners to cater to her needs.

It is pertinent to note that LAUTECH staffers were owed a month salary before they went on strike, even while the rest of the workers, statewide, were owed two or three months’ salary at the time. The public needs to be informed on how the struggle for Academic Earned Allowance by these staffers led to the present crises. The struggle for allowances was the real genesis of the LAUTECH crises, even when institutions in neighboring states, both state-owned and federal, were owed as well. The implementation of unnecessary strike and constant closure also weakened the Internal Revenue Generation of the institution; this ought to have aided its financial and capital commitments. As I write this, LAUTECH has lost revenue due to low enrolment and crippling of all activity, caused by incessant and unnecessary strike actions and closure.

It is also on record that both governments met in Ibadan to find lasting solutions to the reoccurrence of the ownership tussle, and generally chart a workable course for the institution. In that meeting, Aregbesola reaffirmed the interest of Osun state government, as far as LAUTECH is concerned, and a treaty was signed by both governments, affirming that LAUTECH remains a property of both states. The reason behind Aregbesola’s act is perhaps the fact that Osun indigenes hold key positions in the institution and any attempt to withdraw will mean that LAUTECH becomes the sole property of Oyo state, and this may lead to the reshuffling of staff and workers within the institution. Aregbesola will always maintain that Osun state is interested in LAUTECH but they are incapacitated.

I should also state that student leaders of LAUTECH did not stage any protest in Osun state until the outcry was too loud to ignore – Nationally, because majority of LAUTECH student leaders in the Students’ Union Government are indigenes or loyalists of the Osun state government. It is on records that Ajimobi came out of the State Executive Council meeting to attend to students of LAUTECH who protested at the early days of 2017, while Students of LAUTECH protested for two days straight before the deputy governor of Osun state attended to them. Maybe the public needs to be informed as well that the president of LAUTECH Alumni association is an indigene of Osun state.

The Oyo state governor met has with the management, aggrieved member unions and students sometime in January, where he made a promise of N500million to be paid into LAUTECH accounts as temporary respite, while they await the report of the visitors’ panel, set up by the Oyo state government, and headed by respected legal luminary, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), which would hopefully lead to a permanent solution. He made good on his promise, and the money was utilized in the settlement of part of the outstanding commitments, leading to the resumption of the institution a few weeks ago, before the strike action was again activated. The Osun state government in that same space of time contributed a paltry N42million.

It is perhaps also noteworthy that the leaders of the institution’s biggest member unions - ASUU, NASU and SSANU - are ALL indigenes of Osun state. If the Osun State government could indeed stop showing serious commitment to the growth of LAUTECH, it would be grossly unfair to solely blame the woes on Oyo state.

Union leaders that started the campaign for the payment of EAA (Earn Academic Allowances) are all indigenes of Osun and it is on record that, of the two state governors, Governor Ajimobi of Oyo state has been the most willing to come to the table to try and find lasting solutions to the LAUTECH crises.

LAUTECH is jointly owned by Osun and Oyo states, but only Oyo state seem to be bearing the brunt of the current crisis, from all angles.

Have you ever asked why?