Former Ogun State Governor Otunba Gbenga Daniel has described the federal government’s adoption of Tai Solarin University of Education, Ijagun, Ogun State, as an indictment of Governor Dapo Abiodun’s government.
It will be recalled that the FG, on March 9, announced the adoption of TASUED as a federal university.
Daniel, who is the senator representing Ogun East Senatorial District, commended President Bola Tinubu’s initiative on the university but viewed the step as an indictment of the state government for its inability to maintain the institution.
He stated this in an open letter titled “Re: FG Takeover of Tai Solarin University of Education: Matters Arising”, dated 18 March, 2025.
The letter reads in part, “This singular Federal Government initiative of our President and Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as a resilient visioner and creative leader, underscores the importance of the university in the overall development of the education system in Nigeria, as it also confirms that the vision of our administration was well founded with the establishment of the institution twenty years ago.
“However, let it be said that, as robust as this initiative is for that institution and the thousands of workers and students of that great institution, which many did not give any chance of survival when we conceptualised it, we also need to call the attention of your esteemed office to a slight downside in this acquisition and the overall effects on our dear state.
“One, it appears this unilateral takeover is an indictment on our state and the inability of the government to maintain the institution which has attained a global rating, especially when the budget of the state has now hit the one trillion naira mark. Our people will ask, What is the percentage of our budget that is being allocated to the development of education from such a humongous budget appropriation?
“It also needs to be emphasised that part of our vision for establishing the Tai Solarin University of Education was to provide employment to Ogun State citizens as well as increase the carrying capacities and admission quotas, thereby creating placement opportunities for citizens of Ogun State.
“I wish our people would not come to such hurried conclusions about government ineptitude as the reasons for this necessary acquisition when the State Government has abdicated its responsibilities to this institution.
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“Before our administration took over in 2003, there were only two major state-owned institutions of higher learning in the state, vis-à-vis, the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, and the Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta. Of course there are others, like the Tai Solarin College of Education, Ijagun, and the School of Health Technology, Ilese, supported by various technical colleges. But as an educational advantage, so to speak, Ogun State has a huge population of admission seekers, and the National University Commission (NUC) has a cap on the number of students who can be admitted in every admission cycle.
“The Olabisi Onabanjo University had, at the time, about a 3,500 carrying capacity. But with the establishment of TASUED, we were able to double the quotas of admission-seeking students of state origin, just as the state also has the capacity to create employment both in the appointment of vice chancellors and in administrative and academic staff.
“With this acquisition, Mr Governor, those quota advantages might have gone, as the federal government is now empowered to appoint the leadership of the institution, which may also come from anywhere in the country in line with the nature of our federal character system. Our students admission quota, no doubt, would have been abridged; they might benefit from the Catchment Areas system at best.
“We need to express our profound appreciation to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for coming to the rescue of TASUED, without which we are afraid the institution is wired for confinement to the dustbin of history due to the noticeable neglect and seeming abandonment.”
“It is also our fervent hope that your administration might pick up from the president’s magnanimous takeover to start looking in the direction of the remaining institutions of higher learning. Whatever might have been freed from the running of TASUED from the State’s budgetary allocation to education could as well be channelled to the effective running of other institutions like the four other ICT Polytechnics in Igbesa, Ado-Odo/Ota; Abraham Adesanya, in Ijebu Igbo; Gateway ICT in Sapade, and the Dauda Adegbenro in Itori, as well as the Gateway Industrial and Petro-Gas Institute in Oni, Ogun Waterside. All these institutions have equally suffered neglect and abandonment. With the state government’s clear initiative to run these institutions to their optimum capacity, we would have compensated for what we might have lost to the federal government with the acquisition of TASUED.
“Better still, in the event that the state government is unable or unwilling to fund these institutions, we might as well pray for the same ‘good fortune’ that befell TASUED to visit them, to save them from the clutches of the shame of abandonment.
“As a governor who is from the Ogun East Senatorial District, lest it be said that under your stewardship such specialized institutions like the GIPI and Abraham Adesanya Polytechnic went into extinction, you owe our people in Ogun East this minimum of attention.”
