Oyo State Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, has put to rest the controversy surrounding the ownership of the first Technical University otherwise known as Tech-U, Ibadan.
He said the institution belonged to the state government wholly and not any individual, including himself.
The governor made the clarification while receiving the state’s traditional rulers, led by the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, who were on a courtesy visit to his office, on Monday.
Other traditional rulers drawn from the six zones of the state were Eleruwa of Eruwa, Oba Samuel Adegbola; Aseyin of Iseyin, Oba Abdul-Ganiy Salawudeen; Olugbon of Orile-Igbon, Oba Francis Olusola; and Balogun of Ibadanland, Oba Owolabi Olakulehin.
Ajimobi said the state government had not expended any fund on the establishment of the university till date, as all the structures in the institution’s premises were built by foreign donors and the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Ajimobi said, “Let me use this opportunity to dispel the rumour going around that I’m the owner of The First Technical University, Ibadan. People are expected to talk, especially when they lack proper information, but if we fail to dispel the rumour, it may stick and become the truth.
“I want to say without any equivocation that I do not own the Technical University, Ibadan. It belongs to Oyo State Government wholly. It is easy for people to come up with such rumour because of the successful establishment of the university.
“It is the first of its kind in Nigeria, and we are happy that we succeeded in achieving this in our time. Nobody believed we could achieve it, especially during a period the country was grappling with economic challenges.
“Oyo State has had no financial input in the establishment of the university till date. All that you see there were done by lovers of the state, indigenes living abroad, international institutions and the CBN.”
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