LAUTECH: Governing Council holds meeting today

The Governing Council of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, LAUTECH is holding a meeting today to find a solution to the crisis facing the institution.

Premium Times reports that Bakare Olatunde, the student union president of the institution, on Sunday said there may be good news for the students after the meeting as the financial audit report of the institution, which the two owners of the institution, Osun and Oyo states governments requested, has been submitted to the Governing Council by the audit firm, KPMG.

“The Governing Council, management and unions will be meeting tomorrow (Monday) exactly 11 a.m. in school to discuss on the way forward. We, however, hope that the outcome of their meeting will bear fruit,” he said.

According to him, the financial audit will also be forwarded to the representative of the owner states as part of the interim report after tomorrow’s council meeting.

An alumnus and one of the initiators of #fundlautech, Adebayo Adeyinka, revealed that aside from the fundraising initiative which will be 90 days old on September 12, the alumni have met with critical stakeholders to resolve issues.

“There is a kind of synergy as alumni are employing the students as interns instead of sitting at home. We have met and discussed with the governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola.”

It was gathered that the dean of students affairs, Lukumon Jimoda, on sunday confirmed that the governing council of the institution will meet on Monday and the preliminary audit report will be submitted during the meeting.

Mr. Jimoda appealed to the students to remain calm as the outcome is going to be positive.
The institution jointly owned by Oyo and Osun states has been shut since June 2016 due to the failure of the two states to fulfill their shared funding responsibility.

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The school had been closed earlier in 2015 just before the students were scheduled to begin their examinations.

Subsequently, the two state governments managed to come up with N500 million to settle the workers’ salaries thus enabling the students to resume briefly and complete the 2015/2016 first semester.

But the money could only cover the workers’ salaries for two and a half months, following which the workers again embarked on strike in June last year.

The Alumni Association of the institution decided to raise N1 billion to help the school solve the funding challenge that has crippled it which commenced on June 12.

Details of the meeting later…