The Adekunle Ajasin University Alumni Association (AAUA Alumni) has charged the three major candidates in the October 10 election to prioritize the fund of the institution by scaling up its subvention.
The Alumni President, Kunle ADETOBA and Secretary, ‘Seyi OLUWALADE in a joint statement issued on Tuesday and made available to The Precision NG in Akure, the Ondo state capital, harp on the need to make education at the University more affordable for the students amid the harsh economy occasioned by coronavirus.
Full statement below:
A Call to Prioritize the Best Interests of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, Ondo State.
The worldwide Executive Council of Adekunle Ajasin University Alumni Association (“AAUA Alumni”) at its 13th Regular Meeting held on Saturday, September 26, 2020, reviewed the state of affairs of its alma mater, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, Ondo State (“AAUA” or the “University”), and observed as follows:
- There is an urgent need to improve the funding of the University,
- There is an urgent need to scale up the subvention to the University,
- There is an urgent need to motivate the academic and non-academic staff of the University to continue to put in their best in the interest of the University to help its national and global ranking,
- There is an urgent need to make education at the University more affordable, given the harsh economic realities on students, parents and the University community in a post-covid-19 lockdown era,
- There is an urgent need to address the inexplicable exclusion of the University from TETFund’s beneficiary list on infrastructure, and
- There is a primary need to prevent the general decay of existing infrastructure in the University.
We, therefore, use this medium to call on all the candidates, and more particularly the widely acclaimed three major candidates in the October 10, 2020 Gubernatorial Election in Ondo State – Governor and Visitor to the University, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu, SAN; Mr. Eyitayo Olayinka Jegede, SAN, and Mr. Agboola Alfred Ajayi to prioritize the best interests of one of our dear State’s most enduring legacies, AAUA.
As a body of alumni, we are fully committed to the vision and mission of the founding fathers of the University to be a leading institution in teaching, research, character and service to humanity.
It is not in doubt that over the years, graduates of AAUA have been leveraging on the quality of education provided by the highly-motivated staff of the University with support from past and present Visitors to the University. The kernels of the quality of trainings garnered from the University have come handy for us to make positive impacts on every facet of human endeavours across the globe. The positive records our members across the world have set and continued to set in the last years are testaments to this fact.
May we also add that these have contributed in making AAUA one of the institutions of choice for most undergraduates across Nigeria. This is the trend we desire to continue to sustain and we are convinced that the observations signposted at our last meeting are crucial to the sustenance of this unarguably commendable trend.
We are of the strong view that if the strides made by the University over the years are anything to go by, it is important that all hands must be on deck to make the University even a stronger force and we believe the starting step is by working on all the aforementioned observations. For example, we are particularly convinced that there will be more wins for the University in terms of academic excellence, cutting edge research, agribusiness, arts and cultural heritage, entrepreneurship, human expertise, among others if the issue of improved funding and enhanced staff motivation are given utmost priority.
As an association, notwithstanding our young years compared to our peers, we have prioritized giving back to the University and considered ourselves as partners in the development of the University. We have impacted and presently still impacting the University, students and the University community in a manner that many of our older peers have not since their existence. At one point or another, the association donated office equipment to the University, including desktop and laptop computers, electric power generator, while also awarding scholarships to indigent students details of which can be found on the alumni website- www.aauaalumni.com.
Our signature project, the annual Student Empowerment Programme has been a major tool with which we contribute to the mental preparation of our undergraduates for life after the University and the reward has been gratifying, to say the least. As recent as 4th September this year, we yielded to the University’s call by providing solar lighting installations. Perhaps more importantly, the Association has embarked on building a 200 bed-space hostel on campus for the students of the University to help bridge accommodation deficit for the students of the University and the project is at an advanced stage today. All these have been done not because we are a very rich Association. Rather, our strides have been guided by our desire to make AAUA better.
As major stakeholders in the AAUA project, we desire to continue to see AAUA at an enviable position in the comity of ivory towers in Nigeria and beyond. We desire a University that prioritizes excellence in scholarship, administration and character; a university that can champion cutting-edge research to solve societal challenges; a citadel of learning whose students and graduates will be comparable to those of the world’s best universities.
We want a university whose staffers will be motivated with necessary and deserved welfares and remunerations; a university whose students will be proud of in terms of provision of necessary welfare, standard customer service relationship and conducive academic environment; and a university whose alumni will be in a hurry and proud to give back to. In essence, we desire a University that is 21st Century compliant, a status that is unachievable without the active involvement and participation of the proprietor, the Ondo State Government under the leadership of the Executive Governor of the State.
It is on the basis of the foregoing that we hereby plead with all the candidates in the fast-approaching governorship election to please put the best interests of our alma mater at the front burner of their respective plans for Ondo State if elected. We are very passionately asking that whoever emerges as governor among the three major candidates to prioritize the promotion of the vision and mission of the founding fathers of the University; ensure stabilization of the system, and guide against brain drain of the seasoned scholars and administrators that the University parades by giving urgent and adequate attention to the six concerns raised under the first paragraph of this communique.
In conclusion, and for the avoidance of doubt, we hereby state that the AAUA Alumni is a non-partisan Association and our only interest is to protect the best interests of AAUA. We are ready to partner with whoever emerges as the Governor of Ondo State and Visitor to AAUA. We are not by this communique promoting the candidacy of any of the candidates at the election holding few days from now. Our members who are eligible to vote in the forthcoming gubernatorial election and indeed the general people of Ondo State are hereby urged to cast their votes for any candidate of their choice and in so doing to comport themselves peacefully and with great dignity before, during and after the election. We also beseech our politicians to eschew violence and political brigandage and embrace peace instead. We also, hereby, request that politicians across all divides refrain from using AAUA’s peculiar situations to score unfounded political points among themselves.
Lastly, we hope for a peaceful election on the 10th October, 2020 and our prayer is that, “May the Best Candidate Win”. Amen!
Thank you.
Signed:
Kunle ADETOBA
Worldwide President and Chairman of Council
‘Seyi OLUWALADE
Worldwide Secretary
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