KWASU Satellite Campuses Remain Closed After Billions of Naira Investment
By Oyewale Jacob
The Kwara State University Satellite Campuses in Ilesha-Baruba and Osi-Ekiti are yet to open for academic activities after spending billions of naira on the projects in the last seven years.
The Kwara state government in 2017 announced it decision to commence construction on two satellite campuses of the Kwara State University (KWASU) in Ilesha-Baruba located in Baruten local government (Kwara North) and Osi-Ekiti in Ekiti local government (Kwara South).
The the State Executive Council (SEC) under Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed approved the immediate take-off of the two satellite campuses of KWASU barely seven years after commencing academic activities in the main campus located in Malete, Moro local government area.
The University’s new campuses was established inline multi-campus design of the institution.
The University was established by the then governor of Kwara state, Dr Bukola Saraki to cater for admission needs of Kwarans desirous of university education, given the limited spaces allocated to the state by other universities.
Avalanche of failed promises
However, the excitement and joy of locals in having Satellite Campus in Osi-Ekiti is fading away gradually as the hope of commencing academic activities has become a mirage for seven years. The state government has continued to give assurance for speedy completion of ongoing projects in Osi-Ekiti campus.
When our Correspondent visited the Osi-Ekiti campus in June 2024 which is about three-hour distance from main campus in Malete was welcomed by different sounds coming artisans on site.
Indeed work is ongoing on Osi-Ekiti campus but the pace has remained source of worry for indigenes/residents of the community.
KWASU Osi-Ekiti campus by design is expected to students of Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences with over 15 departments.
The campus has administrative block, one hall and two buildings to serve as lecture rooms/ offices for staff. Out of the four buildings, only the administrative block has been completed while work are currently at different level of completion on other buildings. The contractor just moved in tiles for the floor and window aluminum are yet to be fixed. Also, they artisans are building with replacement of roofing and steel works for windows.
Governor AbdulRazaq building of previous administration efforts
That’s the scenery of the project Kwara state Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq in December 2021 said his administration has secured funding for the completion.
According to the Governor, completing the two campuses will open up the state, create new economic centres, and boost search for knowledge and inquiry in the state.
The Governor was speaking at the combined 8th and 9th convocation ceremony of the Kwara State University, Malete, in Moro local government area of the state.
“Our administration has secured funding to complete the satellite campuses of KWASU at Osi and Ilesha Baruba by next year. This will not only grow the university in terms of the number of faculties and students, it will also help to open up those two communities, tackle rural-urban migration, and create new fertile grounds for intellectual and socioeconomic growth,” he said.
Kwara Govt Spends N3.4billion on KWASU Satellite Campuses
Kwara State Government under Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed spent over two billion naira on the Kwara State University Satellite Campuses in Ilesha-Baruba and Osi-Ekiti between 2017 and 2018. Review of the State budget performance indicates that N1.3billion was spent in 2017 and N840million in 2018 under the IF-k (Kwara Infrastructure Development) Funded project while N16.9million was spent in 2019.
Further checks revealed that Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq administration nothing was spent on KWASU Satellite Campuses in 2020 and 2021 fiscal years, despite budgeting N2billion for the projects in 2021.
However, the state government budgeted N2.8billion in 2022 and spent N1.19billion representing about 40 percent budget implementation. No fund was allocated to the projects in 2023 but N1.1billion has been budgeted for ongoing projects in the two campuses.
So far, Kwara State Government has spent N3.4billion on the two Satellite campuses in Ilesha-Baruba and Osi-Ekiti. It’s worthy of note that the two campuses are always joined together as a single project (Osi-Ilesha campus)
Worker attributed delay to past administration
An aged man who works as the security man in Osi-Ekiti campus, Dele Abolarin attributed the slow pace of work to poor funding by Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed administration.
In his words: “Former Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed caused the delay in completion of the project. He didn’t enough work on the project before leaving office. We need to commend Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq for allocating funds to continue the project.
“Contractor has abandoned the project but Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq
Residents lament over slow pace of work
Some of the stakeholders in Ekiti local government area of Kwara State including community leaders, transporters, traders and residents bemoaned the slow pace of work at KWASU Osi Campus.
In a chat with our Correspondent, the President of Ekiti-Youth Navigators, a community development advocacy group, Mutiu Funsho Aremu said the non-completion of KWASU Osi-Ekiti has denied the people of Osi and other neighboring communities opportunity to harness potential of having University campus in their domain.
Aremu implored Kwara State Governor to emulate Oyo State Governor, Engr Seyi Makinde that constructed Iseyin campus of Ladoke Akintola University (LAUTECH) within one year.
According to him, the challenge we are having is the power will and commitment to commence academic activities in the two KWASU Satellite Campuses is not there. We’re excited when the state government commenced the project seven years ago but the high hopes of residents is fading away.
He therefore implored Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq to ensure speedy completion of ongoing projects in Osi-Ekiti campus and commencement of academic activities.
Arewu also appealed to Community Leaders and other Stakeholders to stop playing politics with the Satellite Campus.
According to him, all we want is for the state government to complete the project. This is not the time to start blaming political parties. APC, PDP, SDP members and others would benefit when the project is completed. It will open up the immediate host community and neighboring towns to development in terms of hostels construction, fresh business opening among others.
President of Osi-Ekiti Progressive Union (OPU), Mr. Oludare Fadogba in a phone interview with our reporter expressed optimism that the campus will commence academic activities soon.
His words: “Don’t worry, the state government will complete the project soon. We met the Vice Chancellor recently and he gave us assurance that Osi Campus would be completed soonest. You can see that work is ongoing in the campus now. Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has restored hope by funding the project.”
A trader selling provisions and other consumables, Labake while speaking on delay in completion of the Satellite Campus said it’s affecting the economy of Osi-Ekiti. She said the government is always raising their hope during elections and renege after winning.
“Doing business in students environment comes with a lot of advantages. I would have expand my shop, if they have started KWASU Campus because students environment are always bubbling.” Labake explained.
She therefore appealed to Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq to fast track completion of the project in the interest of residents and community development.
One commercial motorcycle rider, Azeez Olayemi in a friendly chat with Our Correspondent says commercial activities would have been booming in the community, if the University has commenced activities.
Azeez said Kwara State University has changed the lives of people of Malete, the main campus, adding that the same thing can also happen in Osi-Ekiti.
The Director of Corporate Affairs, Kwara State University, Dr Saeedat Aliyu while responding to question on when KWASU Osi-Ekiti will commence academic activities, said the management is planning to start as soon as ‘everything is set’.
According to Dr Saeedat Aliyu, the management would commence academic activities at Satellite Campuses in Osi and Ilesha-Baruba when everything is set (putting necessary infrastructure in place). May be by next academic session but we are working to ensure the environment is set.
However, efforts to get clarifications from Kwara State Commissioner for Tertiary Education, Dr. Mary Arinde proved abortive. Despite multiple attempts via phone calls and messages on the need to get Kwara State Government position on KWASU Osi-Ekiti campus yielded no result as he couldn’t fix suitable date for physical interview as requested.
It’s therefore imperative for Kwara State Government to ensure speedy completion of KWASU Satellite Campuses in Osi-Ekiti and Ilesha-Baruba in order to serve intended purposes. The slow pace of work has cost government huge resources including re-roofing of some buildings at Osi Campus. To this end, the state government and Kwara State University management should walk the talk by kick starting academic activities in the satellite campus without further delay to avoid wastage of tax payers money.
This story was produced with support from the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) under the Collaborative Media Engagement for Development Inclusivity and Accountability Project (CMEDIA) funded by the MacArthur Foundation
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