Some former students have raised N5.8 million for the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, LAUTECH, nine days after they set up the #fundlautech Initiative with a target of raising N1 billion in 90 days for the beleaguered institution.
Areo Oyedepo, the president of the students’ union of the university for 2013/2014 academic session, made this disclosure in an interview with PREMIUM TIMES on Wednesday.
He said the Alumni Association launched the initiative to help the university resolve a funding challenge that has crippled it for close to two years.
“As at this moment (Day 9), I can confirm that we have N5.8 million,” Mr. Oyedepo told PREMIUM TIMES Wednesday evening.
Speaking in the same vein, Adebayo Adeyinka, an old student and one of the facilitators of the #fundlautech project, told PREMIUM TIMES that the initiative has received positive response from Nigerians, as a result of which he expects LAUTECH to reopen soon.
“We are not asking people to bring millions, people donated N1000, N500 even N200 and it goes a long way.
The big donations we got were from Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, and (a former governor of Oyo State), Rasheed Ladoja.”
According to Mr. Adeyinka, the Ooni of Ife pledged #500,000 but gave a cheque of #250,000, which will clear on June 27, while Mr. Ladoja gave a cheque of N 2 million.
He said the former governor also pledged his pension for six months totalling N644,000.
He explained that #fundlautech is a bailout to enable the university pay salary of workers while the owner state governments proceed with their move for auditing of the finances of the university.
“We have short term and long-term objectives,” Mr. Adeyinka explained further.
“The short-term objective is to raise N1 billion, which is for payment of three months salaries. It is just a bailout.
“Our long-term objective is an endowment fund so that when their salaries are paid by the government, we will take it back from them and use it to build an ICT hub,” that would generate funds for the university.
He enjoined the alumni associations of other institutions to support their schools by adopting the initiative and encouraged tertiary institutions to look beyond government funding for the betterment of the education sector in Nigeria.
“Can we have a community-based university where everybody who is working in a particular state has check-up dues which could be below N1000 or above that will go into an endowment fund?
“This will enable your child to go to university free of charge after a period of years. This is possible, it is similar to the pension scheme we have today,” Mr. Adeyinka said.
Akeem Olatunji, the Accord Party spokesperson in Oyo State, on Wednesday confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES that Mr. Ladoja also pledged his six months pension to the #fundlautech initiative.
“The (members of Oyo State House of Assembly) in Accord Party also pledged one million naira,” he further disclosed.
“We are working on how the school can open soon because they have not mobilised students since 2014.”
He also said Mr. Ladoja had promised to get in touch with major stakeholders to intervene and put an end to the crisis in the school.