The unfolding crisis at the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Iseyin Campus, is no longer just a student complaint; it is a clear case study in how governance failures, political decision-making and administrative neglect can slowly cripple an academic institution. What is happening in Iseyin is not an accident; it is the outcome of choices made and repeatedly ignored.
When the Oyo State Government announced the expansion of LAUTECH to Iseyin, many education experts warned that political enthusiasm must not override academic planning. Today, those warnings have become reality. The Faculty of Agriculture was moved from Ogbomoso to Iseyin long before the campus was ready to support the programme. No livestock units. No poultry house. No functional demonstration farm. However, students were still billed for a “Farm Practice Year” that never happened. “This is a classic example of putting politics before infrastructure,” says a university governance analyst. “You cannot build an academic programme on empty land.”
The consequences are profound. Lecturers, without offices or basic teaching facilities, are discouraged from travelling from Ogbomoso. Students now go weeks without lectures, leading to an inconsistent academic calendar that has demoralised many. One education rights advocate describes the situation as “learning in fragments,” noting that the irregular contact hours diminish both knowledge and confidence.
The examination system is in even worse shape. Because the new campus lacks administrative structures, examination scripts are moved back and forth between Iseyin and Ogbomoso. This unhealthy process has led to missing scripts, delayed results, and a growing number of “Awaiting Results” statuses. A retired registrar notes that such chaos “weakens the integrity of a university’s assessment system,” leaving students as victims of avoidable dysfunction.
The pioneer 500-level students are perhaps the most unmistakable evidence of the breakdown.
Forced to shuttle between two campuses for project supervision and lectures that sometimes never take place, they are caught in a cycle of stress, wasted resources, and academic uncertainty. Experts say such travel fatigue can increase pressure on the students and impact their mental health and academic performance. Over the years, students and other stakeholders have submitted petitions, organised peaceful protests, and issued public appeals, all to no avail. The silence from the school management and the government has been deafening. For many stakeholders, the crisis reflects a broader pattern in Nigeria in which educational institutions become collateral damage in political chess games.
For the students of LAUTECH Iseyin, the message is simple: their future should not be sacrificed to politics and poor governance. The time for decisive intervention is now.
