Ondo State governor, Mr. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, has described the state- owned Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, Ondo State, Nigeria, AAUA, as an institution that is on good footing.
The Governor, who is also the Visitor to AAUA, said this during the third Founder’s Day Lecture of the University of Medical Sciences, (UNIMED), Ondo, in Ondo State.
“We’ll continue to support our educational institutions, from the primary schools to tertiary institutions. It’s not possible to abandon a special university like UNIMED. It is the first University of Medical Sciences in Nigeria. A university that deals in specialized areas, can we afford to say we are not supporting it? There have been arguments to merge all three universities, but we will continue to try to retain all three. That is my resolve as a governor. OSUSTECH is also a good university for what it was established for because science and technology must be the goal too, so we cannot afford to also cancel it.
“AAUA is also on a good footing, we just need to continue to support them,” the governor said.
Ondo State currently maintains three universities namely UNIMED; Ondo State University of Science and Technology, Okitipupa (OSUSTECH); and Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, with a Polytechnic in Owo.
The Governor, who said education is key to the system, disclosed that teachers would soon be employed and trained to fill the gaps in the secondary schools.
According to Governor Akeredolu, ”We are concerned about building our education, our own idea is to improve on the schools we have. Better classrooms for our students so that people will go to school, and we make sure it is secured. That is why we have started fencing all our primary schools because of the spate of insecurity that we face.
“In most of our primary schools, we have modern toilets, water, and we teach sanitation and hygiene. We also have solar to provide lights for the classrooms. These are the things we try to do to improve education in this state.”