THE STATEPOST: Can we know your opinion on the recent Federal Government acquisition of Tai Solarin University of Education (TASUED) owned by the Ogun State Government? Does it portend good or ill for the state?
Soyele: Yes, my response is positive. The transfer of the nomenclature or the running of TASUED to the Federal Government by Ogun State Government is to me a very good development.
I want to give it to the Governor of Ogun State, Prince Dapo Abiodun for that understanding and gesture, for not being selfish, for being a progressive, for believing in the welfare of the people of the state and Nigeria in general.
When that change came, many were apprehensive. Some called me to say that our institution, the Federal College of Education (FCE), Abeokuta should have been accorded the status. But I said: No, the more federal institutions we have in the state, the merrier.
In FCE, Abeokuta now, we have been enjoying the Federal Government largesse because we are Federal Government and that's why we have several interventions. We have normal interventions from TETFUND, we have zonal Interventions, conference Interventions, Academic Staff and Training Developments. We have special intervention to construct.
All these windows are lacking at TASUED because the Federal Government is mightier than the state government.
Yes they are doing fine ab initio but now that they are under the Federal Government, they will enjoy the more. By implication, there will be more funds accruing to the institution. The Vice Chancellor will have ample money to run the institution, especially, TETFUND intervention will be increased.
They'll now be captured in the Capital Allocation of the Federal Government, from which they could construct administrative and academic buildings and also solve a lot of peculiar problems confronting them before.
What's more, the workers will now have access to different academic developments and human capacity developments. Like here now, we are enjoying Academic Staff Training Developments, where staff can go abroad. They can go for more professional growth degrees. For instance, if you have Masters, Federal Government will sponsor you to proceed for your degrees and they'll give you money.
We also have what is called social based research fund that are always given to lecturers to carry out researches. The newly acquired university will benefit from them.
By implication, the people of Ogun State will enjoy more. This means that they will enjoy more of the national cake, not only the state but by and large, the whole of the Southwest.
In terms of admission, this will now spread as other people from other states will also come which is good for Ogun.
I believe it is a very good development. I want to appreciate the governor, the Minister of Education and most especially, the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for taking that decision. It is a very good value added decision for all of us in the state.
THE STATEPOST: Another apprehension of the people of the state is probably that the university may no longer use Ogun, it's home base as the catchment area for the majority of its students' intake.
Soyele: Yes. We should not 'ethnicise' education. It is not in the best interest of this country. But like I've said before, students'intake will now go beyond Ogun but there will still be percentage to it. The percentage given to the state as its home base will still be the highest. Of course, that will not preclude Ogun State indigenes from seeking for admission in other universities too.
For instance, the Federal College of Education, Abeokuta will shortly begin to award degrees, it's own independent degrees as a dual mandated institution by September. This implies that we will still have more opportunities of people coming for their degrees from Ogun.
Now, with the NCE program here, we discovered that hardly will you see students from the core north trying to come here as they also have federal colleges of education over there.
So, I don't see much negative effect about this as it is better if you want to say Nigeria should be one. Each institution should capture people in the various subregions that are components of the country. This is the beginning of the point of call for the unity we are advocating for in the country. So, I don't really see this as a big challenge at all.
Now look at this! You are talking about the challenge from students, what about the workers?
There is already something about quotas on the workers. See, we want to employ somebody from Sokoto or Maiduguri to come and work here. But, within some days of getting here, they want to go back because they are not all that comfortable here. The Federal Character clause is not actually working as it should.
You will be questioned on why you're not employing people of other subregions but the fault is not anybody's as they are not willing to work here. How many Yoruba or Igbo are ready to relocate to the north now considering what is happening in the country, the danger, the insecurities.
So, I believe that this development calls for no apprehension as many people will now have opportunities to get jobs, there will be more courses in the institution, there will be expansion, more lecturers, even non-teaching staff, clerical officers and so on. The more development you have, the more workers you will need. If you construct more buildings with government fund, you will need cleaners, security officers, gardeners, electrical people and so on. There should not be any apprehension, rather, we should be rejoicing. This is a good development.
THE STATEPOST: Maybe we should be looking at the fiscal challenge the takeover of the institution poses to the State Government since it may mean a reduction in its annual earnings as the university would no longer be making any returns again.
Soyele: I'm not sure government makes anything from the university by way of return on investment (ROI). But I know from the sister college of education, they are generating their funds and it is not even ever enough. The State Government even gives them more. So, it is not as if government earns any returns, the takeover should therefore be a relief for government.
THE STATEPOST: Can we have your general overview of Governor Abiodun's policies on education?
Soyele: Let me first make it clear to you that to me, governance is not easy. It is not a piece of cake.
I've always been an apostle of progress. I'm always against critics who want to just comment on a governor or a government structure as not doing anything. We should refrain from commiting what is called fallacy of generalisation. Governance is not easy.
Having said that, I want to give you my candid opinion. To me, Governor Abiodun is trying his best. There are different sections of government where he has added values and there are others where he is still adding values. In the Education Sector, the governor has done well. You need to go to many schools now. When he came on board six years ago, many schools were dilapidated.
On the way to Ibadan, you will see one school by your left. It's roof and building used to be moth-eaten and dilapidated. But if you go there now, you will see a yellow roof. He has repaired many of these schools. The same thing goes for the Technical Colleges. Take Idi Aba as an example, ab initio, some years back, it was a write off, but go there now, it is a brand new school starting from its gate. The same thing he has done at Technical College, Ajegunle. He is also working on secondary schools and I know that he must be adding values to universities too. So, to me, Governor Abiodun is trying his best in the Education Sector.
My students that have been employed by his government have not been complaining about their salaries. He has been paying as at when due. To me, I give kudos to him because even me as the Chief Executive here, I know the challenges confronting me daily. There is no way you can do everything in all sectors at the same time. As you are doing one, complaints will come from another. Oga, no drugs, no petrol or diesel, bad roads, it is always one problem or the other. You will be doing it but you can never have 100 percent satisfaction of the people.
As far as I am concerned, Abiodun has done splendidly well. In the Education Sector, I will give him a pass mark.
My only complaint is that I have not seen his Impact in my school, the Federal College of Education, Abeokuta. We are not feeling his Impact much here. We want him to come here too. We want to see his Yellow Roof by way of constructing a building for us here to be named after him. We want to see a yellow road, if that is possible. Let him come and repair our road and we will name it after him. That's what I mean by yellow road, after all, he is having his signature as yellow. Everything is yellow, yellow everywhere.
If you also look at the ongoing National Sports Festival which the state offered to host, it is also a big value added to the Education Sector because the youths are involved. These youths are in the secondary school Education Sector and he has spent millions. He is not only sacrificing in the service of the nation to unite it but also bringing out the psychomotor skills in these youths. So, I want to conclude that Governor Abiodun has done well and he is still exerting himself to excel as he has more years ahead.
THE STATEPOST: But this your request for a Yellow Roof, the signature of a state governor in a federal institution, how feasible is this Sir?
Soyele: Why not. It is feasible and we are waiting for him. He has tried in all sectors but we want to see Yellow Roof in our college too. We are his children too and we have indigenes of the state here - the Ijebu, Egba, Awori and Yewa. So, we want to feel his presence here too.
Some thought that FCE is very rich because it is owned by the Federal Government, but no we still have unsatisfied needs.
I want to note though that we were given a 500 KVA transformer as a community. It was through somebody's efforts though but certainly from the governor. It was a donation of the State Government to this college but that is not enough, we want a Yellow Roof to be named after him. We also want a Yellow Road named after him.
We want to say he also impacted the first tertiary institution in the state within his eight years in office. We are waiting for him.
Governor Abiodun is a performing governor. We were at a program recently where the mantra of his government, 'ISEYA' was changed to 'ISE NLA'. They then analogically described him as Governor Ise Nla, meaning 'Awesome Work'. To us here, he will add more to Ise Nla by doing something for us in our college. He should write his name in gold here by doing one or two Ise Nla for us too.
And you see, incidentally, his father lectured me in the university. Yes, his father took me on a course in English. I really want to celebrate him here too. Let him do something for us here so that we shall have his footstep on the sand of time in the Federal College of Education, Abeokuta, the first tertiary institution in Ogun State. His father was also a teacher and we produce teachers here.
To be continued
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