Osun State House of Assembly has lauded the governors of Osun and Oyo states, Rauf Aregbesola and Abiola Ajimobi, for the peaceful resolution of the recent controversy about ownership and management of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH).
Speaker of the House, Honourable Najeem Salaam, said the gesture of the two leaders demonstrated that they were living up to the demand of their offices.
The commendation was contained in a statement by the Chairman of the House Committee on Information and Strategy, Olatunbosun Oyintiloye.
The lawmakers noted that conflicts cannot be ruled out in any human settings even among siblings, but allowing conflict to degenerate to crisis is what should be avoided in the future by any good leader.
They added that the resolution would make LAUTECH stronger and meet up with the aspiration of its founding fathers.
The House said that the re-affirmation of the joint ownership of the institution by Oyo and Osun states has shown that the pact of peace, dialogue and tolerance was the way to go rather than any party fanning the ember of discord and violence.
The statement reads in part: “We have always said that Oyo and Osun are creation of law and the constitution and would not do anything that would contravene the same constitution over the joint ownership of LAUTECH.
“LAUTECH is also created by law and unless that law is jointly amended by the two states, none of the two states can arrogate to herself the sole ownership of the institution.
“Those fanning the ember of discord needed to be educated on this and desist from causing disharmony between the two states and their people over the institution.
“It was a privilege that the institution is located in Ogbomosho, Oyo State and that privilege must be properly explored by the host community for economic development.”
Need To Work Together
The lawmakers further tasked the government of the two states to design ways of making the institution to be self-sustaining like other universities.
They said by making such design, it would ease the two states the burden of using their scarce revenue to finance the institution on monthly basis.
The parliament further noted that LAUTECH has created for itself, a name that would continue to place it in the lead among its peers, saying the advantage must be properly utilised.
They said that the management of the institution must strive very hard to maintain the lead that the university has secured.
The Osun lawmakers also stressed the need to work together with their Oyo counterparts on matters of mutual interest rather than be seen as groups working at cross purposes.
They then appealed to the workers of the institution who have been on strike since the commencement of the ownership crisis to return to work in the interest of the students, the host community and the people of the two states.
