Immediate past Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of The Guardian, Martins Oloja, has alleged Babajide Akeredolu, son of the former Ondo state governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of deducting tax from all students of the state owned tertiary Institutions while his father was governing the state.Oloja alleged that Babajide was “collecting 6% tax on all students incidental fees as part of state revenue collection mechanism.”Incidental fees are additional charges paid by students for goods or services related to a course or programme, beyond the tuition fee, such as field trips, learning materials, or specific equipment required for certain units.
The former editor-in-chief of The Guardian stated this while delivering the 11th distinguished lecture of the University of Medical Sciences (UNIMED), Ondo, Ondo State, with the topic: “Can the Universities Trigger National Development Amid Economic Challenges?”In November 2021, Akeredolu, appointed Babajide Akeredolu, his son, as the director–general of the Ondo state’s Performance and Project Implementation Monitoring Unit (PPIMU).His appointment which however generated reactions from stakeholders and opposition parties in the state was defended and justified by his father.
Oloja said, “As a stakeholder in this state, I confirmed before that once upon a time, an artful and enterprising son to a governor of this state who was later hired as director-general in the state bureaucracy was collecting 6% tax on all students incidental fees as part of state revenue collection mechanism.“That was a disastrous policy and revenue collection blight on higher education in this state.“May that spectre of darkness not fall on this state again!“This was happening to institutions that actually need more money to survive. How many of the three universities in this state are on their permanent sites?
“This is therefore a clarion call on the newly sworn in Governor of Ondo State who is the Visitor to all the universities to take special interest in the state of school facilities and quality of teachers in basic and secondary schools.“Besides, he should be audacious in revisiting a special panel’s report on the three universities in the State.
“He should not play politics with quality of education in Pa Adekunle Ajasin’s state, our state. Let the sun shine well on oversight and funding of education at all levels in the Sunshine State.“Here is why our leaders should intentionally and unapologetically prioritise education quality. As our leaders put on their thinking caps on what to do with our apparent underdevelopment, they should remember first that education quality not quantity that can deliver sustainable development goals including war on multidimensional poverty and civic incompetence we notice all over the place.
“Our civic incompetence is the only reason our leaders become dealers and we hail them for misusing our public funds with all their strength. Our leaders need to beam our discussion points now on the need to focus on better universities instead of establishing more that will not produce employable graduates in the public and private sectors.
“Seriously speaking, I believe that better universities can produce excellent models and modules that can address our rickety development agenda.
In his comment, the former Vice Chancellor of UNIMED, Prof Adesegun Fatusi, who commended Oloja for the lecture, stated that effort must be made for the country’s university system to live up to its reputation.
He said: “How can the system become better? How can the system give up this reputation? How can we become a touchstone for a transformation?
