The administration of Governor Ajimobi Abiola has made a new decision in the state which will benefit some institutions.
The Oyo State government has moved to ensure that more funds are made available to the tertiary institutions owned by the state which will help them in providing better services to the public.
The state government has said that that it has restored 100 per cent monthly subventions to all the state-owned tertiary institutions. According to Daily Post, it will be recalled that the state government under the leadership of Abiola Ajimobi, had in 2016 explained that the administration’s decision to slash subventions to state-owned tertiary institutions to 25 percent was due to dwindling revenues.
The institutions owned by the state government, whose subventions were cut in 2016, included: The Polytechnic Ibadan, Emmanuel Alayande College of Education, Oyo, Oyo State College of Agriculture and Technology, Igbo Ora, Oke Ogun Polytechnic, Saki, Ibarapa Polytechnic, Eruwa and Oyo State College of Education, Lanlate.
Ajimobi said that the decision to slash the subventions was due to the dwindling financial resources of the state, asking the authorities of the institutions to be more creative.
The decision then, however, led to the shutting down of schools across the state. The schools included the jointly-owned institution, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso.
In a fresh development, the state on Sunday said it has restored the 100 per cent subventions to the tertiary institutions.
This announcement is coming just ten days (10) to the end of the second term of the Ajimobi administration. The second term of Ajimobi of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, will expire on May 29, 2019.
Ajimobi will be handing over to the Governor-Elect, Seyi Makinde of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
Making the new decision of the state government known, Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Professor Adeniyi Olowofela, while speaking with journalists on Sunday, explained that the restoration of 100 per cent subvention to the institutions is aimed at assisting them to put an end to their financial constraints.
Olowofela hinted that the subvention has been restored since April 2019. He added that the reduction in allocation and grants necessitated the need for the state government to cut measures which also affected the tertiary institutions in the state. Olowofela said, “Prior to the 2019 general elections, Governor Abiola Ajimobi had also met with the management of various institutions and they both agreed on how to offset their backlogs which the government has started implementing”.
He urged the managements of all the state-owned institutions to be more innovative, resourceful and also look inward on how to be self-sustaining.
Whether or not the incoming administration of Makinde will continue with the new introduction by Ajimobi is still unclear as he is yet to react to the issue.
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