BY ABISOYE JOHNSON
THE Ogun State Government has set up a Tertiary Education Trust Fund to address infrastructure deficits in state-owned tertiary institutions.
Governor Dapo Abiodun disclosed this while commissioning a state-of-the-art 1,500-seater hall donated to the Ogun State College of Health Technology (OSCOTECH), Ilese-Ijebu.
The facility was donated by a legal luminary and prominent indigene of Ilese Ijebu, Otunba Kunle Kalejaye (SAN) in honour of his sister, Mrs. Adetumbi Adebanjo (Nee Kalejaye) to mark her 72nd birthday anniversary.
The governor reiterated his administration’s commitment to returning what he called the lost glory of education in Ogun State.
He spoke through his Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Abayomi Arigbabu.
The governor also ordered the payment of bursary awards to indigenes of Ogun State in tertiary institutions across Nigeria.
He said, “For the first time in the history of the State, this administration has introduced what we call the Ogun State Tertiary Education Fund which is like a local TETFund for infrastructural development in the tertiary institutions in Ogun State.
“There are some of the tertiary institutions in the State that ordinarily get annual TETFund funding from the Federal government but for those that are not on that platform, Ogun State government has set aside N200million to be given to these institutions on an annual basis.
“The government has also introduced infrastructure intervention. It is a form of projects identified by the institutions on an annual basis which government of Ogun state will actually build.”
The governor commended Kalejaye for the donation of the hall and called on corporate bodies and other individuals to emulate his gesture.
In his address, Kalejaye said the hall was one of his numerous philanthropic projects which included scholarship funds, 98 functional boreholes, churches, mosques, schools and hospitals, among others.
“This project is dedicated to filial devotion and sacrifice. It stands as a monument to the honour of Adetumbi Adebanjo (nee Kalejaye) who gave up her comfort so that I could be educated.
“It is my hope that this project will be utilised in a way that will convey to others the willingness to do something similar.
“I belong to the school of thought which holds the creed that government cannot just do everything. However, the government too must do something,” he said.
