A bill to change the current status of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso from a technical institution to a conventional university has passed second reading in the Oyo State House of Assembly.
The bill is also seeking to change the university’s name from LAUTECH to Ladoke Akintola University (LAU).
However, the LAUTECH Alumni Association (worldwide) kicked against changing the name of the university.
Governor Seyi Makinde had sought to change the university from a technology institution to a conventional one and the Speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly, Adebo Ogundoyin, said on Tuesday that the bill had passed the second reading.
The speaker said, ”The bill has scaled second reading. We are working on it to ensure that our students and others like them have the opportunity of studying any course they like. This time around, they will not be restricted to technical education or courses alone. This shows how futuristic and forward-looking our Governor is.”
But the LAUTECH Alumni Association opposed the renaming in a communique issued on Tuesday following an emergency meeting of the association called by the Global President, Solomon Onilede.
The communique which was signed by LAUTECH Alumni Global Secretary, Prof. A.O Ige, was made available to our correspondent on Tuesday.
The alumni association argued that the university and its students, as well as old students, would suffer greatly if the name was changed from LAUTECH.
The communique read, “That the enabling documents and technical papers that established the university had already captured all the programmes in different fields of study. These programmes are to be rolled out in phases as the university advances; such as agriculture, engineering, medicine, sciences, environmental sciences, pharmacy, law, education, arts, social sciences.
“That licence to establish the University of Technology was given after due diligence and evaluation were carried out ab initio to the technical report.
The word “Technology” does not reside in Engineering exclusively instead, it connotes advancement in different fields of study. Therefore, there is technology in law, technology in arts, technology in education, Technology in pharmacy, technology in agriculture etc.
“That the unique name is LAUTECH, that thousands of graduates of LAUTECH at undergraduate, postgraduate and professional levels, would suffer a huge setback in their places of work which might be irredeemable if the university is renamed.
“Renaming of LAUTECH would demoralize all stakeholders (Staff, Parents, Students, Immediate community, members of Alumni Association and would return the University to zero level. Global and national correspondences would be greatly affected.
Celebrating LAUTECH, the best state university should continue with proper funding for teaching and research so as to occupy a vintage position globally.
“There are several universities of Technology within the country and abroad that run numerous programmes such as laws, technology, education etc.
We sincerely appreciate Governor Seyi Makinde for his unalloyed support to the University.
“It is our prayer that the branded name of LAUTECH be retained even to accommodate the name LAUTECH is strong enough to accommodate all other programmes as envisaged in the technical paper that established the university.”
