A group of indigenous investors in Kwara state have appealed to Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq to intervene in the N150 million investment agreement between them and the management of the state College of Education, Ilorin.

A statement by the group of investors, signed by Oladeji A, said that they entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the management of the institution over remodeling, renovation/refurbishment, and operation of about 1,000 bed-space hostels in 2019 in a public-private partnership arrangement.

The statement, however, said that the school management reneged in the agreement while lamenting that the loans taken from financial institutions and corporate personalities to execute the contract had accumulated interest.

“The agreement we had with the College was for 15 years, while the College will make the use of the hostel compulsory for the students. The share capital was that for the first four years all the returns from the hostels will come to us; the investors, while for the remaining years, the returns will be shared in a 70:30 ratio; 70 per cent to us while the college will take 30 per cent. On a cumulative basis, our investment in the school runs into N150, 000,000.

“Surprisingly, the college did not make the hostels compulsory for the students. By the end of the first session, what was realized by all the hostels is not up to 7% of what was expected as against our forecast of 100% expectation respectively. This is way below what was the expected return on our investment. This is how our plight is stated.

“When we discovered that the college was not going to make the hostels accommodation compulsory for the students we started making moves. Among the step we took was to write letters to the Acting Provost and the Governing Board on several occasions pleading for the College to honor the terms of the MOU.

“In our letter dated February 4, 2022, we suggested three options for the College. The first option was for a reduction of the cost of per bed space from N40, 000 to N30,000 subject to the amendment of the MOU to increase the duration of the contract from 15 years to 20 years and to make us entitled to 100% remission of the hostel fees for six years instead of four years. The second option was for the College to subsidize the hostel for the student while the third option was for us to be paid off.

“Rather than consider our suggestions which appear to be the best, the college Board unilaterally reduced the hostel fees to N15, 000 and yet did not make the hostel accommodation compulsory for the students. At this point, 20 years is not sufficient for us to make any return on our investment in the college’s hostels.

“So we had to resort to the last option which is to opt-out. We have contacted the Executive Governor of Kwara State to intervene in the matter and once and for all resolve this issue. At a point, we wrote a letter addressed to the Executive Governor through the Secretary to the State Government but nothing happened.

“Over N150,000,000 has been invested in the hostels by us and we were betrayed by the College. Our financiers are after us. They keep calling now and then. We keep getting letters of demand for loans which we took to finance this project and the College has no sympathy,” he said.

Reacting to the claims of the investors, the Acting Provost of Kwara State College of Education, Ilorin, Dr. Ahmed Ayinla while confirming that he was aware of an MoU signed between the former Provost of the college and some investors on the management of the student’s hostels, however, said that the MoU was not properly done.

According to the Provost, “It was true that a group of investors signed a memorandum of understanding with the former Provost, but the normal procedure was not followed because both the governing Council of the College and the Ministry of Tertiary Education Education which is the supervisor of the college were not involved in the signing of the MoU.

“Secondly, the MoU was full of errors, for example, the MoU was supposed to be in operation for 15 years but they increased the period to 25 years without the knowledge of the management. We pointed these out to him but he refused to listen to us, we are aware that they had invested in the Student’s hostels, and in order not to lose totally, we advised that he should make some corrections so that we can resolve the issue amicably but he didn’t want to reason with us.

“I will advise him to get the governing Council and the Ministry of Tertiary Education involved so that the issue can be resolved amicably so that he would not lose the money already invested in the hostels,” the Provost said. (Nigerian Tribune)

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