The Edo State Governor, Mr Godwin Obaseki, visited the Ambrose Alli University (AAU) on Thursday,March 16, 2023 in company of the the Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, Hon. Marcus Onobun, the Commissioners for Education, Dr Joan Oviawe, and Agriculture, Stephen Ideheren, the Onojie of Ekpoma, and other traditional leaders. Obaseki listened, and allayed the concerns from all the stakeholders present, promising to resolve them and reposition the University to meet global standards.
In his opening remarks, Mr Obaseki said he would be doing grave injustice to the memory of his mentor, Professor Ambrose Alli, if he came into office and watched his legacy destroyed.
“I had a predecessor in office who saw the problem and decided that he would build another university) in his own place rather than deal with these problems. People told me to set up another one in Edo South but I said no, we have a great university here, and whatever the problem is we will fix it. AAU must be restored to what its founding fathers wanted it to be.” he said.
Among the aggrieved groups were staff unions and students who voiced some concerns about the payment of salaries, staff administration, and infrastructure.
Addressing the issues, Mr Obaseki said 40 years after the establishment of the institution and the decade-long issues it has been embroiled in required a review of the law and a restructuring of the governance of the school.
“I’m not a governor that retrenches people, I believe in retraining people, not putting them out of work. I cannot be part of any process that is laying off people from work.
“Between January 2022 and December of the same year, about 2062 staff were paid the sum of 3.8 billion Naira. If some people did not get theirs, it does not need to lead to a crisis that will stop the university from functioning. We only need to investigate and find out why they did not get their salaries.” the Governor appealed.
He added that the “SIT was a temporary arrangement for us to understand, and reset the issues and they go. I begged some of the SIT members to take on this task.
“I’m assuring you that within the next 90 days, the SIT will wind down and hand over to the governing council.
He also informed the audience that part of the reforms for the school included the bill to amend the law of the university.
“There are reforms that have taken place and we need to finish with all of them and then hand back the university to a proper governing council.”
“If the previous people that ran the university did not run it aground, there would be no need for the SIT. They owed over one billion and were not paying salaries and pension,” Obaseki said, adding that he brought in the SIT who were not part of the problem to review the situation and tell the Government the best way forward.
Afterward, Mr Obaseki formed a small team to include the Commissioner for Education, the Onojie, and union leaders to address the way forward for the university.
He promised that before he leaves office AAU will be restored to the vision of its founding fathers and warned the warring groups to leave politics out of the efforts to restore the institution.
