The Ondo State Governor, Mr Rotimi Akeredolu, has said that his administration would not merge the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, the Ondo State University of Science and Technology, Okitipupa and the University of Medical Sciences, Ondo.

Akeredolu made the declaration at the Third Founder’s Day Lecture of the University of Medical Sciences, following reports that the government was planning to merge the three universities due to paucity of funds.

The Governor explained that there had been a lot of argument on the issue of merging the three institutions, but he insisted that his administration would retain them as separate individuals

He said, “I am not playing politics. This is the first University of Medical Sciences in Nigeria. A university that deals in specialised areas, can we afford to say we are not supporting it? There have been calls to merge them, but we will continue to try to retain them. “

“OSUSTECH was abandoned for some time,but we will get it running because science and technology are very important. The AAUA is also on a good footing, we just need to continue to support them. We are concerned about building our education from that level, our own idea is to improve on the schools we have. We are also looking to provide better classrooms for our pupils that are also secured, that is why we have started fencing all our primary schools.”

On his part, the Vice-Chancellor of UNIMED, Prof. Friday Okonofua, commended the governor for his effort at ensuring that the university was sustained through immediate release of funds to scale-up the infrastructural development.

The VC also appreciated friends of the university for their immense support since the establishment of the university, as he called for their continued partnership in ensuring that the institution stands out.

Source: https://punchng.com/no-plan-to-merge-ondo-varsities-says-akeredolu/