Lagos state university main campus gate in Ojo,Lagos,Nigeria
Lagos state university students have ordered that the state
govertment under the present regime reverse the school fees regime immediately.
In a communiqué sent to that respect
to paedia express multimedia in Lagos,Nigeria ,the students were in unison on
the need for all stakeholders to handle the issue with utmost care.
The students
released a ten point agenda which they believe will go along way in resolving
the crisis and the future of tertiary education in the state
The report read “Lasuites under the platform
#SaveLASU Campaign movement earnestly calls on
Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola to consider calling for the reversal of
the fees of Lagos State University on the basis of the following ten (10)
reasons”
“ The fee hike is the root cause of
the protest by LASUITES on Wednesday and Thursday 22 and 23 January 2014 as
well as the inability of about 1,292 students to register. To prevent similar
unpleasant occurrence in future requires that the root cause be addressed. A
University can only thrive in an atmosphere of peace and tranquility devoid of
disharmony’
“The fee hike is anti-poor and
unaffordable by the vast majority. Especially in a State where civil servants
barely receives the N18,000 National Minimum Wage, this regime of fees in the
only public University in the State is unaffordable for vast majority,
contradicts the vision of the founding fathers of the Lagos State Unversity and
is calculated to price education out of the each of the children of poor
working class people in Lagos”
“ The fee hike is responsible for the
sharp decline in student enrollment in LASU over the past three years. LASU
used to have over 20, 000 full-time students, today full-time students are only
a little above 12, 000. Indeed at this rate especially when the current 300 and
400 level students who are still paying the old fees of N25, 000 graduate, LASU
may have less than 6,000 full-time students! The wider implication of this is
an increase in the illiteracy rate of the State”
“ The fee hike is an unconscionable
rip-off of students and their poor parents and this is unacceptable from a
government that claims to be progressive. For instance while the tuition
component of the fee ranges from N50,000 to N80,000, several exploitative
miscellaneous charges like registration fee, acceptance fee, matriculation fee,
development levy, library, manuals and even examination charges have been added
to boost the fee to outrageous levels. To make matters worse, most of the items
under the miscellaneous charges that students pay for are rarely provided or
the facilities are in such decrepit conditions such that students do not get
value for their money. For instance, while students pay between N20,000 to
N50,000 for laboratories/practical/workshop/studio, the conditions of each of
these facilities are so bad that one begins to wonder what the hefty sums
student pay are used for. Also the University collects N50,000 hostel charges
from 100 level Medical students while there are no male hostels in LASU. In
addition, for three years students have been paying a uniform Development Levy
of N15,000 but today LASU is worse for it in terms of teaching facilities and infrastructures.
This is also inspite of other sources from which the University receives huge
sums for capital projects like the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND). The
list of the rip-off is endless”
“The fee hike is a death pill which
if not reversed will kill LASU. Today there are several departments at the LASU
that have less than 10 students at 100 level. Some examples will suffice”
“ French department = One student in
100 level. (B) Islamic studies = 6 students in 100 level. (C) Law =15 students
at 100 level, 25 students at 200 level.
(D) Department of Fishery = 60
students obtained admission into 100 level last session. A session after, only
14 out of this are left and out of this 14, only four have registered for the
current session”
“ The fee hike has increased the
dropout rate at the Lagos State University. Indeed for many current 100 and 200
level LASU students, the possibility that they would be able to complete their
studies is almost zero. Also the development of LASU into a world class
University which the State government promised in 2011 while justufying
the fee hike has become a mirage. Today
LASU is not a world class University but a horrifying story of neglect, decline
and decay”
“ The fee hike threatens the job of
academic and non-academic staff as a result of consequential decline in
enrollment. Mass retrenchment which will be the fallout of this fee hike will
lead to further increase in the unemployment situation in Lagos State and the
poverty rate as huge numbers of people who were hitherto dependent on the
salaries of the academic and non-academic staff of LASU suddenly find
themselves without such assistance as a result of retrenchment of their bread
winners”
“ The fee hike is unacceptable. LASU
is the only University owned by the State. The State government has no excuse
at all not to be able to fully subsidise the tuition of the University in order
to ensure that poor people can also go to school”
“ The fee hike is not justifiable.
Lagos is the richest State in Nigeria. With N80 billion IGR, Lagos State is
rich enough to fund education adequately especially if there is more judicious
and democratic management of the State resources and less corruption and
diversion of our collective resources to fund the profligacy of the rich few”
“ The fee
hike is a breach of social contract and
a betrayal of the electorate by the Babatunde Raji Fashola Lagos State
Government which campaigned as a "progressive" alternative to the
neo-liberal agenda represented by
others. We believe that the Lagos State government cannot continue to lay claim
to being "progressive" while it simultaneously carries out
unconscionable attacks on the right of poor people to public education. For
instance just recently on February 15, 2014 at the Njala University in Sierra
Leone, Former Lagos State Governor Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu upon receiving an award
of Honorary Doctorate Degree of Civil Law, Honoris Causa said the following
"We formed the APC so Nigerians from all walks of life and
social station might gather under one tent to develop the nation on the basis
of equity and shared prosperity. What we seek is a fair social compact so that
we may avoid social calamity. A core element of our mission is to make all
levels of education, from primary to university level, accessible to all
people, regardless of economic circumstance. To survive in the modern economy,
education is a must. As such, responsible leadership must view education as a
public right and no longer a luxury to be enjoyed only by those with the money
to purchase it for themselves. Government must help financially those who can’t
help themselves in this essential regard".
It is nothing but sheer hypocrisy for
the leader of the ruling party in Lagos to make such statements in far away
Sierra Leone while the Lagos State University is shut as a result of student
protest against attempt to make education "a luxury to be enjoyed only by
those with the money to purchase it for themselves". We simply urge the
government of Lagos State to practise what it preaches by reversing the
outrageous fees in LASU.
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