Ondo 2020: Alumni Association raises alarm over AAUA’s condition

*** Wants next governor to act fast

As Ondo state governorship election draws near, the Adekunle Ajasin University Alumni Association has called on candidates of major political parties ,especially, the APC, PDP and ZLP to be committed to addressing various challenges facing the tertiary institution if elected.

A communique signed by Kunle Adetoba, Worldwide President and Chairman of Council and Seyi Oluwalade, Worldwide Secretary called “on all the candidates, and more particularly the widely acclaimed three major candidates in the  Election – Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, Mr. Eyitayo Jegede, and Mr. Agboola Ajayi to prioritize the best interests of one of our dear State’s most enduring legacies, AAUA. ”

The communique was issued at its 13th Regular Meeting held on Saturday, September 26, 2020 to review the state of affairs of AAUA.

The communique reads in part “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.

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.

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 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.

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. ”

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