Triple jeopardy: LAUTECH Iseyin campus students write Makinde, lament failure of programme

Triple jeopardy: LAUTECH Iseyin campus students write Makinde, lament failure of programme

Khalid ABRAHAM

Gov Seyi Makinde

Prof Rom Kalilu, VC of LAUTECH

The story of woes trailing the Iseyin campus of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) Ogbomoso, Oyo state, has continued unabated as students under the aegis of “Concerned Students LAUTECH, Iseyin Campus” have sent a “Save our soul” letter titled, “The Academic Crisis at LAUTECH Iseyin Campus,” to the Oyo state government appealing for quick intervention to halt the slide and chaos at the centre.

They listed litany of woes facing them lamenting a bleak future as agricultural students and attributed the menace to absence of practical teachings, acute shortage of facilities, irregular lectures and so on.

ogbomosoinsightonline.com recalls that a few years ago, the Oyo state government under Governor Seyi Makinde established a campus of the institution at Iseyin, with the aim of severing the faculty of agricultural science and renewable natural resources from the main campus. This was vehemently opposed by a broad spectrum of people including the affected students, academic and non-academic staff, Ogbomoso indigenes and some old students. There were series of protests at the main campus, Ogbomoso metropolis and at the Governor’s Office in Ibadan. The resistance was so fierce that there is even a subsisting court case instituted by some aggrieved parties.

Also, it was suggested that rather than balkinizing LAUTECH, if it is the desire of the Makinde-led government to set up an institution of higher learning in Iseyin, an entirely new faculty should be established. It was advanced that taking out a foundation faculty like Agric that is well over 30 years at the permanent site was ill-advised. Analysts even suggested the Iseyin complex should be turned into an institute of agriculture affiliated to the LAUTECH’s faculty of agriculture. But all fell on deaf ears.

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To underscore the severity of the matter, “the concerned students” noted in their introduction in the SOS letter, copies of which were sent to news editors, “I respectfully submit the following letter for publication in your esteemed newspaper. It highlights the urgent educational crisis facing the Faculty of Agriculture students at the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Iseyin Campus,” expressing hope they “will help bring this issue to the attention of the Oyo State Government and the general public.”

The letter meanwhile is reproduced in full below:

We, the Concerned Students of the Faculty of Agriculture at the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Iseyin Campus, write to call attention to the gross administrative negligence threatening our future. Since the establishment of the Iseyin Campus, we have been victims of a system that prioritizes politics over educational standards.

1. A Faculty of Agriculture Without a Farm It is both ironic and shameful that a Faculty of Agriculture exists without a single livestock or poultry unit. Since moving to this campus in our 200 Level, we have not conducted any practical sessions. We paid levies for a “Farm Practice Year,” yet we did nothing tangible. We are being trained as agriculturists in theory only, devoid of the practical exposure necessary for our profession.

2. Infrastructural Decay The campus currently operates with only two lecture rooms and one administrative building. There are no offices for lecturers. Consequently, lecturers must travel from Ogbomosho to Iseyin to teach. Due to the lack of office space and laboratories, many refuse to come, leaving students stranded for weeks without lectures.

3. The “Awaiting Result” (AR) Epidemic Due to the lack of administrative structure on our campus, examination scripts are transported back and forth to Ogbomosho. In this process, scripts frequently go missing. Students are plagued with “Awaiting Results” (AR) status, which often resolves into an ‘F’ (Failure) through no fault of the student. We have no local redress mechanism; complaints cannot be lodged in Iseyin without travelling to Ogbomosho.

4. The Plight of the Pioneer Set The pioneer set is now in 500 Level. Instead of focusing on graduation, they are caught in a logistical nightmare. Some departments have ordered final year students to move to the Ogbomosho campus for projects, only to force them back to Iseyin for lectures, lectures that rarely occur because the lecturers have no offices.

We have written letters and held peaceful protests, but nothing has changed. We call on the Oyo State Government and the University Management to stop playing politics with our education.

Education is our right, not a privilege.

Signed, Concerned Students LAUTECH, Iseyin Campus