No Abandoned Tetfund Project, UNIOSUN Tells Senator

• Yusuf Oketola

The management of Osun State University (UNIOSUN) Osogbo, has said there was no abandoned Tertiary Education Trust Fund-financed project on the campus of the university.

The lawmaker representing Osun West Senatorial District, Dr Lere Oyewumi, had on Friday, while speaking with journalists in Ikire, lamented the litany of abandoned projects across the country, noting that over 10,000 of such littered all parts of the country.

Disclosing the readiness of the 10th Senate to probe those abandoned projects, the Deputy Minority Leader of the Senate, made reference to a particular lecture theatre being executed through TetFund since 2010 at UNIOSUN, Ikire campus that has not been completed.

He said, “I was at Osun State University, Ikire campus. I also visited the Federal College of Education, Iwo. At Ikire, there was a contract awarded since 2010 but uncompleted till now, a lecture theatre.

“If you get to TetFund now, to them, Osun State University, Ikire campus is supposed to have about 5 lecture theatres but there is only one functioning there. So, we resolved at the Senate that within these four years, we don’t want to see such abandoned projects again.”

Reacting through a statement signed by the Public Relations Officer of the university, Ademola Adesoji, obtained in Osogbo on Sunday, the management explained that the institution started accessing Tetfund in year 2012, as such, it could not be harboring a project awarded since 2010.

The statement further read, “Osun State University started accessing TETFund interventions in the year 2012; therefore, the claim that a building project started in 2010 was misleading and untrue. The only project yet to be completed in Ikire Campus started in June 2021, and the University now has the TETFund support to complete the job. Even though the pace of work on the construction might have been slow, the university is ensuring very close supervision.

“The Senate Deputy Minority Leader visited our College of Humanities and Culture, Ikire Campus on Thursday, August 31, 2023, and expressed satisfaction with the infrastructural development that we have been able to achieve through our internally generated revenue while also lauding our quality of academic staff. We only award infrastructural projects to contractors with a track record of timely delivery, and they work under our strict supervision.

“It should be recalled that TETFund and other regulatory agencies regularly send technical inspectors to our campuses for monitoring and evaluation. We are proud to state that the inspection reports and have always commended the University’s management for good jobs on project delivery. The University has, over the years, been able to secure funding from TETFUND for faculty buildings, lecture theatres, as well as other normal, special, and high-impact interventions of the Fund.”

UNIOSUN restated its commitment to transparency and accountability which has earned it an enviable reputation amongst its peers.