JUST IN: Communities scramble for hosting of Ogbomoso University
Yinka ADETUNJI
The Ogbomoso University though still a long drive to reality has already come into achievement in the mind of the people in view of the intense jostling by heads of communities in Ogbomoso zone to host the institution either whole or in part.
This development was uncovered through investigations by ogbomosoinsightonline.com.
According to sources close to the promoters of the university many villages and communities have intensified efforts to host campuses of the university by meeting with relevant stakeholders.
“Something like that is ongoing,” a member of the Ogbomoso Academics, one of the initiators of the idea, who however pleaded anonymity informed, adding, “traditional rulers from various communities in Ogbomoso zone l learned are lobbying to have the university or its campuses located in their locales.”
Confirming the scenario also, in a community head who also did not want his name mentioned disclosed he had met with a “professor” who is in the know to request that his domain be considered to host the institution.
“We are going to release land for the purpose. I told them my community is ideal for the project. We will be bound to render other assistances if we are considered,” the traditional head stressed.
It is recalled that an education summit on the proposal was held Saturday, June 24 in Ogbomoso which explored the desirability and possibility of a community-based private university.
The summit at the instance of the Ogbomoso Academics and Ogbomoso Community Youth Forum ended on a positive note as there was a renewed fervour to see the university materialized.
With September 2024 as tentative take off date and with a temporary site acquired on the site of the Pine Valley Secondary School Egbeda, a private school belonging to Professor Timothy Olagbemiro, former vice chancellor of Bowen University Iwo, Osun state and Edwin Clark University Kaigbodo, Delta state, pressing ahead with the logistics especially raising the requisite fund (a minimum of N5b needed) is the major task now.
Ogbomoso, which is second largest city in Oyo state, presently has only one university, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), founded by the old Oyo state in 1990.
The university with several faculties and colleges boasts over forty thousand in population today contributing immensely to the economy of Ogbomoso and Oyo state in general.
Many believe having another university will further boost the economy of the community and open new vista in education and employment opportunities to indigenes and non-indigenes alike.
