Why I want University of Agric and Entrepreneurship in Saki ― Rep

A member of the House of Representatives, Hon Olajide Olatunbosun representing Saki West/Saki East/Atisbo Federal Constituency of Oyo State, has decried the lack of federal presence in his Oke-Ogun area of Oyo State.

Speaking with newsmen in Abuja on Tuesday, the Federal lawmaker lamented that the area, consisting of 10 local governments, could not boast of any Federal Government-owned institution, with his people suffering neglect. 

According to him, “My constituents mandated me to bring their plight to the centre and attract government presence to them when I got elected into the parliament in 2019.”

Olatunbosun said that the mandate motivated him to sponsor a bill for an Act for the establishment of a Federal University of Agriculture and Entrepreneurship in Saki, Oke-Ogun in 2019.

The lawmaker said the bill had already scaled through first and second reading on the floor of the House.

He said, “Since I got elected in 2015, my legislative advocacy is to bring to the centre the suffering and neglect that my people have suffered since independence.

“As we speak we do not have any Federal presence in terms of roads or hospital. In Saki, in my constituency and in the larger geographical area called Oke-Ogun, we have 10 local governments.

“I see Saki as the centre of that geographical area. We are very industrious people and our major occupation is agriculture. The proposed university is going to take our agriculture from subsistence farming to mechanised one and also value addition that is agro-processing. It will also resolve a major social issue: unemployment

“This is the first time that a university in Nigeria will be called a university of entrepreneurship. It’s a novel idea, the first in the country and I hope that God will do it for us.” 

Asked how ready the people are to start the school if the bill eventually gets presidential assent, he said, “We are absolutely ready. We have infrastructure that if it is approved today, we can take off in a month. All hands are on deck. We are ready to have it because it’s going to bring a lot of development in our place.”