Brain Drain Hits LAUTECH, Ogbomoso?

Unless the two-owner state governments of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology {LAUTECH], Ogbomoso, Oyo State, urgently address myriads of problems confronting it, the enviable records of the institution among the comity of universities in the country may start to dwindle.

The institution is jointly owned by Oyo and Osun States’ Governments.

This is because LAUTECH is fast losing its seasoned academics due to what the observers referred to as “in conducive and harsh working environment”, thus forcing senior lecturers to seek greener pastures in other varsities within and outside the country with better packages.

Major among the problems facing the university are gross under funding and shortage of office accommodations.  

The available lecture halls and laboratories are so inadequate that they cannot cope with the over-bloated students’ population.

 Similarly, young lecturers and other non-academic staff now use the university as stepping stones to actualize their frantic search for well-funded varsities, be it public or private.

Investigation conducted authoritatively revealed that the rate at which the academic staff are leaving LAUTECH is so alarming that it cuts across all the departments.

For instance, it was reliably gathered that at the peak of crisis of ownership in 2010, virtually all staff at the department of transport management left the University for another Institution.

Some of the academics interviewed on conditions anonymity expressed strong indignation on the funding of the institution, which they described as “grossly inadequate”.

“The quantum of funding is not what they (owner state governments) are giving the university.  LAUTECH is augmenting payment of salaries. For about twelve months running, while  the university had not been allocated a kobo by the two owner states governments.

 "If not for proactiveness and sense of commitment of former dynamic Vice-Chancellor, the institution would by now become a shadow of itself.

“A situation whereby you want the university to generate revenue internally, you are likely to compromise standard.  It is the duty of owner state governments to adequately fund the institution, in order to be able to accomplish its vision and mission.”

They  further hinted that the situation is so bad that the academics not only go cap in hand begging wealthy individuals and corporate organizations to put up structures, students also build halls for their own use.

On research and development ASUU members informed that whatever breakthroughs achievable were through individual sacrifices, saying that the university has not done anything to motivate, or assist the academics.

According to them, “imagine a Professor spending his personal money to build a pent house in the institution, for the experimentation of animals.  Whose responsibility it is?  It will also interest you to know that LAUTECH has no pension scheme, so, where lies the future of the academics after they might have meritoriously served the institution?  

"The conditions under which we are working here is so terrible that we make personal sacrifices to make things work.  We are greatly losing competent and experienced academics in this institution due to in-conducive working environment.  The better for the owner-state governments to, as a matter of utmost concern address the situations before getting out of hand.”