From Kayemo News
Former Senator representing Ekiti North Senatorial District, Senator Ayo Arise, has clarified that the establishment of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE) was facilitated through his efforts and engagements with the Federal Government.
Addressing journalists in Ado-Ekiti, Arise, who served in the National Assembly between 2007 and 2011, said he initiated the process of securing a Federal University for Oye-Ekiti following President Goodluck Jonathan’s announcement in November 2010 of plans to establish six new federal universities in states without such institutions.
He said the narrative crediting others with the establishment of FUOYE amounted to an attempt to distort the history of the university and diminish the contributions of those who worked to ensure that Oye-Ekiti became its permanent location.
According to him, President Jonathan had announced on November 28, 2010, that the Federal Government would establish six new universities in states that did not have federal universities.
Arise said that the following day, he wrote to the Minister of Education through the ministry’s then Permanent Secretary, Professor Oladapo Afolabi, requesting that one of the proposed universities be established in Oye-Ekiti.
He explained that Professor Afolabi subsequently directed him to present the request to the then Minister of State for Education, the late Kenneth Gbagi.
The former lawmaker recalled that he subsequently visited Gbagi’s office, where he met the Minister alongside the then Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, Professor Peter Okojie and Professor Mahmood Yakubu of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, who later became Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission.
He said the late Gbagi eventually indicated that Oye-Ekiti had been identified as one of the locations for the proposed universities, alongside Otuoke.
Arise described Femi Ajayi, a former Director General of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, (NDLEA) who was erroneously credited with the establishment of the institution, as a ‘decent gentleman’ who played a supportive role but not primary in securing the university for Oye-Ekiti.
He explained that Ajayi had his own longstanding relationship with President Jonathan, having served with him at Iresi and subsequently occupied several federal positions, including Senior Special Assistant to the President on Diaspora Affairs, Director General of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency and Executive Secretary of the Petroleum Technology Development Fund.
According to Arise, Ajayi was the person he could most easily reach at the Presidency and often helped convey his messages to President Jonathan.
He added that Ajayi remained a good man who used his various federal appointments to contribute to the development of his community.
Arise equally acknowledged the role played by former Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, in resolving the land and location-related challenges surrounding the university.
He said he met Fayemi on July 31, 2011, for nearly two hours over the governor’s reluctance at the time to issue the Certificate of Occupancy required by the Federal Government for the land in Oye-Ekiti.
According to him, they eventually agreed that a dual-campus arrangement would provide a solution to the controversy.
He said the arrangement allowed Ikole-Ekiti to host the Faculty of Agriculture, while Oye-Ekiti remained the main campus as approved by the Federal Executive Council.
Arise urged Ekiti people to approach the history of the institution with fairness and integrity rather than allowing political interests to rewrite the circumstances surrounding its establishment.
His words, “I have become aware of recent narratives about the establishment of the Federal University Oye Ekiti. Some of these accounts appear to be deliberate attempts to diminish my role in the effort that, by God’s grace and with President Jonathan’s approval, led to the university being established in Oye Ekiti.
“The following are the accounts as it happened. I can only pray that the spirit of our forefathers as Ekiti people would visit these new set of Ekiti and cloth them the spirit of decency and integrity for which every Ekiti man derives his respect in our society.
“On Sunday the 28th of November 2010, President Jonathan announced his intention to establish six new Universities in States where there were no Federal Universities. The news was aired by NTA network at about 9 pm.
“The next day, I wrote to the Honourable Minister of Education through the Ministry’s then Permanent Secretary, Professor Afolabi, requesting that one of the universities be established in Oye Ekiti. Professor Afolabi advised me to address the letter to the then Minister of State, the late Kenneth Gbagi.
“I immediately went to his office and, as directed by his secretary, waited for him because he was on his way back to the office. He arrived less than five minutes later, accompanied by Professor Okojie of the NUC and Professor Yakubu of TETFund, who later became INEC Chairman.
“After my initial presentation, Professor Okojie said that Oye is a rural community because he visited Oye before, to inspect the location for Crawford University before relocation to Ogun state. Late Kenneth Gbagi looked at me and said that he was looking for a location where the university could take off immediately.
“I told him Oye was ready as there was a teachers college established by the Federal Government in the seventies. I then asked him whether he would not consider the hometown of the man who gave him his job simply because the community was rural? There and then Gbagi said he already have location for two of the six Universities i.e. Otuoke and Oye Ekiti.
“The next phase was the journey for inspection of the facilities. It was during the visit that they paid a courtesy call to the newly sworn in governor Fayemi who decided to take them to Ikole Ekiti for inspection.
“Late Gbagi thereafter declared that he established a Federal University of Agriculture in Ikole. This was done, without any Federal Executive Council approval nor that of the President. This became a very serious issue between the two communities.
“The same set of people selling the concocted lies we are reading today, festered the ember of hatred between many sons and daughters of Ikole who believed that Ayo Arise relocated the University from Ikole to Oye Ekiti. This was not the case as nobody requested for the University until I had submitted my letter and had met with Hon. Gbagi, Professor Okojie and Professor Yakubu.
“I became the Chairman Senate Committee on Privatization in July 2007. Vice President Jonathan as at that time was the statutory chairman of the National Council on Privatization. My committee had direct oversight responsibility for the Council that the Vice President chaired.
“We had a good working relationship and out of respect for his office I went to his office to hold my committee discussion with him at the villa periodically. This relationship lasted until he became the Acting President on the 9th of February 2010 and later President on May 6th, 2010.
“This represented over two and a half years of working relationship prior to the issue of University establishment.
“Mr. Femi Ajayi, a decent gentleman had his relationship with President Jonathan without any doubt when they served together at Iresi. The President made him his SSA diaspora, later the Director-General of NDLEA and finally the Executive Secretary of PTDF for about 20 months until he was disengaged in February 2016 by Jonathan due to agency reshuffle.
“Dr. Femi Ajayi was the person I could most easily reach at the Presidency, and he reliably conveyed my messages to Mr. President.
“If I had routed my letters and occasional gifts through official channels, I could only have guessed whether they reached the President or what response they received. One of the gifts I sent was Decision Points by George W. Bush.
“As far as I am concerned, Dr. Femi Ajayi remains a good man. Through the various federal positions he held, he had opportunities to serve the people of Aiyegbaju, and I believe there are many testimonies to his impact in that regard.
“Dr. Ajayi was no doubt one of the contributors that supported me as needed”.