ONDO GOVT APPROVES TRANSFER OF AKURE HOSPITAL TO FUTA TEACHING HOSPITAL, REVIEWS AGRICULTURE, INFRASTRUCTURE POLICIES

The Ondo State Executive Council has approved the transfer of the University of Medical Sciences (UNIMED) Teaching Hospital complex in Akure to the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), to serve as its College of Medicine and Teaching Hospital.

Briefing journalists after the Council meeting, presided over by Governor Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa, on Thursday, September 11, 2025, the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Banji Ajaka, explained that the move follows President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s approval for FUTA to establish a College of Medicine and a Teaching Hospital.

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He said the Akure hospital complex will now be ceded to the Federal Government to serve as FUTA’s main medical sciences facility.

“The handover includes the transfer of staff infrastructure, equipment, and liabilities. All employees will be absorbed into FUTA Teaching Hospital under the Federal Government,” Dr. Ajaka stated.

The development, according to the Council, is expected to strengthen healthcare delivery in Ondo State while advancing FUTA’s ambition to become a leading centre for medical sciences in Nigeria.

Also at the press briefing, the Commissioner for Agriculture and Forestry, Engr. Leye Akinola, announced new measures approved by the Council to protect farmers from the impact of the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which bans crops cultivated from deforested areas.

He said the government has approved agroforestry practices across selected forests, while ensuring reserved areas remain intact. Cocoa, cashew, oil palm, and rubber farmers will be permitted to continue operations under strict mapping and traceability systems.

“By December 30, 2025, any crop that cannot be traced to a mapped farm risks being rejected at the EU market. To safeguard livelihoods, the state will support farm mapping and grant farmers permits to continue operations,” Akinola added.

The Council also approved a review of tariffs across agricultural produce and timber value chains, aligning Ondo with other Southwest states under the DAWN Commission framework.

On his part, the Commissioner for Information, Mr Idowu Ajanaku clarified that each cabinet member has been directed to nominate a road project in their respective local government areas to impact communities directly.

He stressed that the initiative is not for private or partisan interests but to ensure equitable development across the 18 local government areas.

“These roads are outside the 2025 budgeted projects. They are supplementary interventions to touch communities and enhance connectivity”, Ajanaku added.

Meanwhile, the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Alhaji Hamidu Takuro, said the Council also ratified the appointment of His Royal Highness Joseph Ilésanmí as the monarch of Sosan in Akoko South-East Local Government Area.