LAUTECH reaffirms commitment to inclusive admission, welfare for persons with disabilities

The Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, has reaffirmed its commitment to the inclusion of visually impaired persons and people with other forms of disability in its admission and welfare programmes.

The vice chancellor, Professor Razaq Olatunde Rom Kalilu, gave the assurance recently while addressing members of the Nigeria Association of the Blind, South-West Zone, who paid him a courtesy visit in his office in Ogbomoso.

The Deputy Vice Chancellor (Management and Operations), Professor Tunde Ogunkunle, who received the visitors on behalf of the Vice-Chancellor, emphasised that LAUTECH had been adjudged the best state university and the best university of technology in Nigeria, not only because of its academic achievements but also because the university maintains an edge over others through its inclusiveness.

He said, “One of those things we do to edge out other universities is our inclusiveness in whatever we do.”

Professor Ogunkunle noted that the university’s commitment to inclusiveness extended to the provision of accessible infrastructure and facilities for persons with physical disabilities.

“We in LAUTECH are quite aware of all that you have been saying. Inclusiveness is one of those things that make a university edge others out, including taking care of those with physical and other forms of disability,” he said.

He recalled that the vice chancellor had also directed that ramps be provided as part of ongoing efforts to improve toilet facilities across the university, to ensure that persons using wheelchairs could access them.

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Describing Professor Kalilu as a versatile leader who understands the importance of inclusion, Professor Ogunkunle said the University would continue to support initiatives that promote equal opportunities.

“We will strongly support your advocacy. In whatever we do, we will continue to ensure that there is inclusiveness. Effort will be made to ensure the inclusion of people with visual impairment in our admission exercise,” he assured.

Earlier, the Zonal Coordinator of the association, Comrade Samuel Lekan Bello, a lecturer at the Federal College of Education (Special), Oyo, and the Zonal Secretary, Comrade Kemi Odusanya, a journalist, expressed the belief that LAUTECH could play a significant role in promoting greater educational and technological inclusion for persons with visual impairment in the South West and Nigeria at large.

They therefore called for a stronger relationship between the institution and the Nigeria Association of the Blind to facilitate collaboration in the areas of inclusive education, “assistive technology, digital innovation, admission opportunities, and the academic development of persons with visual impairment, particularly our youth members who are students.”

Other persons in the delegation included the association’s coordinators in Oyo, Lagos, Ogun, Osun, Ondo, and Ekiti states, as well as other members of the association.