The Vice Chancellor, Olabisi Onabanjo University, OOU, Prof. Agboola Ayodeji has reiterated that the University would sustain strides recorded in the previous years through effective discharge of its responsibility optimally in teaching, research and community services, with a view to providing improved high level human capital needs for the national and globe in entirety.
Agboola, who stated this while defending the budget proposal of the tertiary institution before the State lawmakers at the ongoing 2023 budget defence session, held at the Assembly Complex, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta disclosed that the school planned to expend over N6bn in the running its activities next year.
The Vice-Chancellor, noted that part of the strategies put in place was to committe 40% of capital expenditure to the improvement in the physical infrastructure’ facilities/equipment by the end of the first-half of 2023.
He stressed that the university’s N6.08bn total budget included N760.4m for capital projects, while N5.24bn would go for recurrent expenditure, with expected revenue target of N9.116bn for the next fiscal year.
In another development, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Tai Solarin University of Education (TASUED), Prof. Adekunle Adeogun, said that the university was irrevocably committed to restructuring all academic programmes with emphasis on entrepreneurial and vocational skills towards promoting self-reliance.
Adeogun explained that the university’s 2023 budget objective was structured towards putting in place strategies to train more teachers, who would in turn be proficient in their respective disciplines, posses vocational skills and entrepreneurial capabilities to achieve the required human capital for all-round development.
To achieve the foregoing, the DVC proposed the sum of N616.1m for capital expenditure and N3.461bn for recurrent expenditure, cumulating to a total annual budget expenditure N4.07b for the university in the next fiscal year.
The lawmakers in their respective remarks challenged the management teams of the universities to continue to improve on their financial administration through adherence to the principle of probity and accountability.
Defending the budget estimate of Sikiru Adetona College of Education, Science and Technology (SACOETEC) Omu-Ajose, the Provost of the College, Dr. Adeola Kiadese stated that the institution planned to spend a sum N1.150bn as total expenditure for next year.
Kiadese said that of the total, the sum of N328.6m was earmarked for capital expenses, while N821.7m would go for recurrent expenditure, with N1.58bn being expected to be generated as revenue for the period.
Other agencies that defended their budget proposals before the State lawmakers included Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta, the State College of Health Technology, Ilese, Gateway Polytechnic, Saapade, Gateway ICT Institute, Igbesa, DS Adegbenro Polytechnic, Itori, Abraham Adesanya Polytechnic, Ijebu-Igbo as well as Gateway Industrial and Petrol-Gas Institute Oni amongst others.