Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde says he is open to dialogue with those protesting the renaming of The Polytechnic, Ibadan, to Omololu Olunloyo Polytechnic, declaring his readiness to yield to a superior argument.
His remarks came in response to protests by students and the alumni association of the state-owned institution against the name change.
During the official inauguration of the Governing Boards for five state-owned tertiary institutions at the Executive Chamber of the Governor’s Office on Friday, Makinde acknowledged the emotional attachment many have to the original name. He, however, emphasized that policy decisions should be driven by merit, not sentiment.
The governor announced the name change in June to honour former governor of the state, Omololu Olunloyo, sparking significant backlash.
He said, “I know that this Inauguration would not be complete if I refuse to say one thing or the other about the issue regarding the renaming of The Polytechnic, Ibadan, after a former governor of the Oyo State, Dr. Omololu Olunloyo.
“Well, the Baba, according to the record available to us, was the first Rector of The Polytechnic, Ibadan. So, what it means is that they must have handed over to him, maybe some buildings and a clean sheet of paper that made this happen. So, he must have done his part. I have heard the alumni and the current student union body.”
The governor continued, “If some of our EXCO members may remember, we argued about the name of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology at a point. The pro-chancellor came to me and said, ‘Yes, this university was founded to offer only technology-related education, but we are seeking approval to allow them to offer other courses in humanities and other areas.’
“We said okay, go ahead. And the issue of name change came up. We said, well, since they are not offering only technology-based courses, will the name still stay as LAUTECH? We argued back and forth. I wanted the name to be changed to Ladoke Akintola University, but the alumni sent representatives to us, and I said, ‘Okay, if you have any superior argument, we will listen to you. ’ And they came up with a list of schools that have undergone the same transformation, and they still retained that name. So, we allowed superior arguments to prevail.
“After all, what we should be mostly concerned about is the quality of products from that school. I threw a very simple question to some of the people agitating to retain the name of The Polytechnic, Ibadan. I said, ‘Look, let’s even say we now move to something like what we did at Emmanuel Alayande College of Education. We upgraded the institution from a college of education to a university of education. So, if tomorrow we upgrade The Polytechnic Ibadan to a university, will they tell us that it should still be The Polytechnic, Ibadan?’
“We are ready to engage with the people, if you have any superior arguments apart from sentiment. And, if you are coming to us to even talk about the infrastructure and the quality of graduates coming from that institution and making a case for us to put in more resources and all of that, I can understand. But still, we are ready to engage, and my appeal to the students is, when you protest openly and you disturb others from going about their lawful activities, you need to realise that where your freedom stops is where the freedom of others starts.
“So, if there are differences, please go through the proper channel. This is an administration that listens to you. If you have a superior argument, then we will listen to you and we will even apologise to you.
“The process is on. If you have any issues, not about sentiment, I will listen and I will do whatever I can do within my power to ensure that we lift the infrastructure in that institution, that will ensure that adequate resources are provided, be it monetary, be it material, be it human. We just need to ensure that we have good products coming out of that institution.”
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Governor Makinde also used the occasion to express the government’s readiness to solve the challenge of subvention to the institutions with a view to seeing to it that they are well-funded.
“I also need to mention this. I know that almost all the institutions are struggling with their subventions. But why did I meet with JAC before I was elected? They were being paid a fraction of the subvention, and after we won the election, the government of the day moved from 50 per cent subvention to 100 per cent, but they did not pay it for one day. It was left for the incoming administration to execute.
“So, from day one in office, that singular act added one billion naira to the expenses of the state. Then we continued to manage with the understanding from JAC when we had to negotiate a new minimum wage from N18,000 to N30,000. Now, minimum wage, again, within this administration, has moved from N30,000 to N80,000.
“I know some of you have been coming to us. I believe we had to make a special arrangement for the College of Education, Lanlate, for them to be able to pay salaries over the past two months. So, I know you are struggling, and we don’t want this to be some kind of hardship posting for the Governing Council in those institutions.
“So, we are going to be engaging with you shortly to see what we can do. The resources of the state are limited, and we still have to ensure that we give quality education, that we have a good learning environment, and we will do everything to ensure that our graduates from those special institutions can compete with the best from around the world.
“So, I acknowledge openly now that you are faced with those challenges. And, in the days or perhaps weeks ahead, we will solve that problem,” the governor added.
The institutions are the Polytechnic Ibadan, Ibadan; Oke Ogun Polytechnic, Saki, now Michael Koleoso Polytechnic, Saki; Oyo State College of Agriculture, Igboora; Oyo State College of Education, Lanlate and Oyo State College of Health Science & Technology, Ibadan.
While inaugurating the boards, the governor reiterated his administration’s commitment to upholding quality and excellence in state-owned tertiary institutions by continuing to provide necessary support to them.
Those inaugurated as chairmen are Prof Lanre Nassar, Rt. Hon. Babatunde Olaniyan (Akoro), Comrade Olusegun Oyewumi, Dr. Amusan Damilare Gideon and Dr Bisi Ojebola for The Polytechnic Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo State College of Health Science and Technology, Eleyele, Ibadan, Oyo State College of Education, Lanlate, Oyo State College of Agriculture, Igboora and The Oke Ogun Polytechnic, Saki, respectively.
The governor also inaugurated other members of the councils.
Makinde said that his administration’s efforts culminated in the state moving from owning one and a half universities in 2019 to owning three universities, stating that the government had continued to look out for ways to maintain the standard and ensure that the institutions were at par with international standards.
He equally noted that the government got the reactions of the alumni of The Polytechnic Ibadan, which it recently renamed after former Governor Victor Omololu Olunloyo, promising to sit with them and engage them on the development, even as he charged them to also channel the grievances to the House of Assembly, which would soon be considering a bill in that regard.
In a related development, the governor at the event signed into Law the renaming of the Oke Ogun Polytechnic, Saki, to Michael Koleoso Polytechnic, Saki.
The governor appreciated the Pro-Chancellor and the Chairman, Governing Council of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Professor Ayodeji Omole, and his team for their efforts, which he said contributed to the positive turnaround of the tertiary education sector in the state.
He said, “Let me say thank you to Professor Omole and your team members. When we came into the office, we had one and a half universities in Oyo State, the Technical University and half of LAUTECH. But through your efforts, we now have three solid universities in Oyo State. And, you have not stopped.
