Ondo State governor and Visitor to Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA), Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, last week inaugurated the new four-wing and five-storey Senate Building of the institution.
Mimiko, who also inaugurated a 500-capacity Nelson Mandela Hall and a three-storey Library Resource Centre the same day, vowed to continually invest and support the educational sector in the state to meet up with global best practices.
The Senate Building is a 16,000 square metres office space on a 12-acre land. Its four wings surround a central courtyard, which also serves as a waiting space.
The edifice hosts the university’s central administration, including the Vice Chancellor, the Registry and the Bursary, and 148 other offices, 165 toilets, and 10 Conference/Board rooms.
It also has the senate chamber, council chamber, a large hall, cocktail and entertainment lounge, five stair halls, and three lifts. The building is serviced by two 500 KVA generators.Its parking lot can take 104 cars, while the landscaped surrounding is beautified with two fountains, and an open Piazza that can sit about 2,500 people.
Governor Mimiko expressed his pleasure about the structure, saying that his administration was making a deliberate effort to provide affordable and qualitative education.
“I am not in doubt, that one of the major challenges that AAUA and our other public institutions faced was that of acute deficit of infrastructure. This informed our decision to do all that is within our powers to engender an infrastructural turn around at these institutions. Our Administration will not relent in moving Ondo State to the next level of sustainable development in all sectors,” he said.
He noted that the recent rating of AAUA as the best state-owned university in Nigeria; and Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, as the best state polytechnic in Nigeria by the United States Transparency International Standards (USTIS), was not unconnected to the deliberate and undaunted commitment of his administration to education sector.
He thanked the workers and students for their support, appreciating the immediate past Governing Council of the university chaired by Chief Dan Nwayanwu, for its services to the university. He also thanked the contractors, consultants, architects and project managers – Charvet Nig. Ltd, Akin Olusola & Associates and Interstate Architects Ltd, for a job well done.
The governor praised his brother and former Vice Chancellor (VC), Prof. Femi Mimiko, whose tenure ended on Monday, January 4, for demonstrating purposeful leadership and setting a goal for the university to rank with the best.
“On behalf of the people and government of Ondo State, I thank Professor Femi Mimiko and the Management Team for their services to the University and, by extension, the good people of Ondo State,” he said.
On his part, Prof. Mimiko said the construction of the building, which was funded by the state government, commenced on March 7, 2012 and was formally handed over to the university by the contractors on June 13, last year.
The VC thanked the Governor Mimiko-led administration for generously funding the university.
“It is no doubt a standing testimonial to the commitment of the Governor Olusegun Mimiko Government to education, for which the AAUA community is so grateful,” he said.
In his speech, the Chairman of the Governing Council and Pro-Chancellor of the University, His Excellency, Ambassador Oladele Akadiri, thanked the government and the university management for giving necessary support to the council and ensuring its functionality.
Governor Mimiko was accompanied by his wife, Olukemi, and many top government functionaries in the state, including the Deputy Governor, Alhaji Ali Olanusi, to the inauguration.
