How I facilitated establishment of FUOYE in Ekiti – Senator Arise

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 at the weekend, 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.

ALSO READ: Why Christians can call on Allah, say Alhamdulilah — Reno Omokri

Arise described Femi Ajayi, a former Director-General of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), who was erroneously credited with the establishment of the institution, as a “decent gentleman” who played a supportive, but not primary, role 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.

According to him, “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.

“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.

“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”.