His Excellency, Governor Seyi Mankinde fondly called GSM has been brutally in a haste to transform the pacesetter state like a former governor of Lagos State who is now the president of Nigeria, Asiwaju Bola Hamed Tinubu, GCFR. In one of the interviews with PBAT, when an interviewer quizzed him: What are you going to do on your first day in office? Replied! Hit the ground running……keep running…… Is GSM a PBAT associate? You have your mind to decide that. It did not take Makinde, a month to flag off a road project en route Olorunda-Aba,8.3Klm. Like GSM like PBAT or vice-versa. Dissolution of Park Management System (PMS) headship and reconstitution of another leadership for effective coordination. Ongoing review of workers’ salaries due to the new economic reality in the country. Transport fare slash to cushion the effect of the hike in the prices of petrol and transport fare.
Your administration was criticized at the initial stage as engaging in populism. Did these criticisms get to you at some point in a way that could have made you consider changing your style of leadership and governance?
To be honest, I am not sure what it was about how we were governing the state that made people refer to our policies and projects as populist. Mind you, we have not changed the way we govern. I think, in general, Nigerians are not used to governance with a human face. We promised a government that would execute people-centered policies, and that is what we will continue to do._Interview with This Day Newspaper; Seyi Makinde
GSM and Omituntun 1.0! What did he do? To me, he did not do well going by what he achieved in state-owned tertiary institutions. You are entitled to your opinion if you think he has done well. Let us quickly run through what he attained in that clime before we look at the prospect of his new agenda tagged Omituntun 2.0.
Governor Seyi Makinde (GSM) earmarked two major assurances concerning the education sector during his campaigns going forward in 2018-2019. Emphasis on improved access to education, including tertiary institutions and sole ownership of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) from the hitherto dual control of Oyo and Osun States. Without unnecessary eulogy, GSM accomplished his electioneering pledge of earning sole ownership of LAUTECH before he completed his first term.
In a bid to expand access to tertiary education, Makinde lowered school fees at the Emmanuel Alayande College of Education, Oyo, by 10% in 2020. School fees at LAUTECH were also reduced by 25% in 2021 after Oyo State had attained an unrestricted license of the varsity. GSM ensures equality and even the spread of opportunities, thus, his administration provides scholarships yearly to students from each of the 33 local government areas to study at the First Technical University, Ibadan now referred to as Abiola Ajimobi Technical University. His passion for education is not limited, by so doing, he awarded full scholarships to 136 students across 33 LGAs and 35 LCDAs at the School of Nursing and
Midwifery Eleyele, Ibadan, in January 2022.
As a man being guided by logic, science, and data, Makinde in another dimension has enhanced access to advanced education by giving a facelift to infrastructures in these state-owned schools. No school can throve without funding, as it is key to developing infrastructures. In an attempt to revamp the problem of paucity of funds, GSM’s administration has been paying 100% subventions. It is a statement of fact and clearly in the diary that days to change to the government in 2019, the previous administration increased subventions to 100% even though, for the 8 years before, the last government had paid subventions of 25-50%.
GSM’s rescue in education allows schools to undertake capital projects to take care of infrastructural depletion. State College of Nursing and Midwifery, Oyo Annexe got reopened upon GSM’s assumption of office in 2019 after 8 years of closure. The Polytechnic, Ibadan, was allocated N100 million for capital projects in 2020. By 2021, the Oyo State Government financed the building of the Seyi Makinde Office Complex to contain standard offices for 72 lecturers at the institution at the cost of N458 million.
The working visit by GSM in February 2022 to the College of Education Lanlate, allowed for the approval of the release of N100 million for the institution’s infrastructural advancement. Besides, in April 2022, GSM commissioned the Seyi Makinde Innovation and Technology Hub at LAUTECH. The hub was constructed by the government partnering with private sector organizations while the building contains ultramodern technology facilities for teaching and learning programs such as Artificial Intelligence and Robotics.
As if it is not enough, GSM also commissioned the Central Laboratory Complex quoted after him at The Oke-Ogun Polytechnic, Saki in September 2022. Whereas, at the Adeseun Ogundoyin Polytechnic, Eruwa His Excellency, GSM commissioned two blocks of 250-capacity classrooms in December 2022. All in all, everything is still a work in progress in an attempt to boost the infrastructure deficit in all state-owned schools as all deeds by GSM in Omituntun 1.0 is just a preamble.
Having secured sole control of LAUTECH, GSM designed a multi-campus model for the institution in early 2022 and initiated the construction of the Iseyin Campus of the university, with a take-off grant of N500 million and this occasioned with hues and cries of the model.
GSM government helped schools to resolve their non-accreditation issue of many programs. The Polytechnic, Ibadan, released N200 million for the accreditation of courses and by September 2022, 35 courses were accredited at the institution. Over 20 courses for both National Diploma and Higher National Diploma levels at the Adeseun Ogundoyin Polytechnic, Eruwa were accredited and The Oke-Ogun Polytechnic, Saki, had courses accreditation for 27 courses in January 2023.
Many schools have not had an easy with convocation ceremonies. but in April 2022, GSM attended the LAUTECH convocation ceremony of 2015-2021 combined graduands, just imagine that! The Oke-Ogun Polytechnic, Saki never experienced a convocation ceremony since its inception and in 2022, graduands from a combined set of 2015-2020 got convoked.
Emmanuel Alayande College of Education, Oyo enjoyed a conversion to a University of Education which was approved by the National Universities Commission (NUC) in December 2022. It is an exponential increase from one and a half institutions to a record-breaking three. LAUTECH, which has been ranked the best state-owned university in Nigerian rankings every year since 2019 put a stop to the thought of backscratchers who doubted the maintenance of 3 state universities by GSM. Recall that a 2022 UK ranking placed LAUTECH as the best state-owned university in Nigeria.
To be continued……
Olawale Aremu 📝
A Member of GSM ADVOCATES for Good Governance.
