Ambode budgets N25 billion for students

olamide oni

November 16, 2015 9:43 AM

Lagos state Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, is seeking to make a few amendments to the Lagos State University laws.

Governor Akinwunmi Ambode

Lagos state Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, is seeking to make a few amendments to the Lagos State University laws.

The LASU 2015 Amendment Bill has now been sent to the State House of Assembly for ratification.

Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Steve Ayorinde, on Saturday, 14th November, disclosed that Ambode has sent the Employment Trust Fund Bill 2015 to the Assembly.

The bill is aimed at improving the welfare of the students and providing employment opportunities in the state. Ambode intends to make this transformation by budgeting N25 billion which is to be spent in a span of four years to support young entrepreneurs and small businesses.

Another bill, which proposes a single term of five years for the Vice-Chancellor of the institution, has also been sent for consideration.

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Ayorinde said that the two bills were sent to the House as Executive Bills while also revealing that the draft of the bills had earlier been approved by the State Executive Council during its meeting on Wednesday.

The LASU Amendment Bill 2015 is aimed at improving the previous amendments made in 1990 and 1992. Ayorinde said it is the hopes of the Lagos State Government to solve the issues plaguing the university. He added that the new law “seeks to review the exercise of general supervision over discipline in the university imposed on the Vice-Chancellor and to propose a single term of five years for the institution’s Vice-Chancellor."

“It seeks an amendment to Section 36(1) and (2) of the Law, which deals with admission policy to place the responsibility of determining the minimum admission requirement on the Senate of the university,” he added.

The law which is proposing to inject N25 billion into job creation and employment opportunities is a fulfillment of one of Ambode's campaign policies.

Ayorinde says, “the fund will be administered as soft loans to bonafide residents of the state that desire facilities ranging from N100, 000 to N1 million or more, as the case may be."

“The fund will be administered through an independent trust backed by an efficient structure that will disburse the funds," he assured.

olamide oni