Students of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Iseyin Campus, have raised a fresh alarm over what they described as a deepening academic crisis threatening their future, accusing the Oyo State Government and the university management of “playing politics with education.”

In a petition released under the banner of Concerned Students of LAUTECH, Iseyin Campus, the students said the institution’s administrative failures, infrastructural inadequacies, and poor academic conditions had left them stranded and demoralised, despite repeated appeals to the authorities.

LAUTECH, owned solely by the Oyo State Government, established the Iseyin Campus a few years ago as part of its expansion drive. But students, particularly those relocated from the Faculty of Agriculture at the main Ogbomoso campus, said the move had turned into a nightmare with dire academic consequences.

According to the students, the Iseyin campus lacks the basic facilities required for agricultural training, including livestock and poultry units. They lamented that since their relocation in 200 Level, no practical sessions have been conducted despite the collection of levies for a mandatory “Farm Practice Year.”

“It is shameful that a Faculty of Agriculture exists without a single livestock or poultry unit. We are being trained in theory only, without the practical exposure necessary for our profession,” the statement read.

They said the campus operates with only two lecture rooms and one administrative building, leaving lecturers without offices and discouraging them from travelling from Ogbomoso to teach. As a result, students said they often go weeks without lectures, while missed classes accumulate without remedies.

The students further alleged that examination scripts are routinely ferried between Ogbomoso and Iseyin due to the lack of administrative structures on the new campus. This, they said, has resulted in missing scripts, delayed results and a proliferation of “Awaiting Results” statuses that sometimes translate into unjust failures.

“We have no local redress mechanism; complaints cannot be lodged in Iseyin. Students must travel back to Ogbomoso to sort out issues created by the system,” they said.

The pioneer set, now in 500 Level, appears to be the worst hit. According to the petition, students at the cusp of graduation are forced to shuttle between campuses for lectures and project supervision. Departments, they claimed, order students to move to Ogbomoso for projects only to summon them back to Iseyin for classes—classes that often do not hold.

“This is a logistical nightmare,” the students said. “Instead of preparing for graduation, we are trapped in confusion.”

They said they had written multiple letters and staged peaceful protests to draw attention to their plight, but the issues persist. They called on Governor Seyi Makinde and the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Razaq Rom Kalilu, to intervene decisively.

“We call on the Oyo State Government and the university management to stop playing politics with our education. Education is our right, not a privilege,” the statement concluded.

As of press time, the university management had yet to respond to the latest claims.