The authorities of the Lagos State University have declared that the tuition by their students cannot even pay the workers’ salaries for three months.
The Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof. Oladapo Obafunwa, stated this just as he noted that the Lagos State Government would invest about N9bn this year in the school.
Obafunwa, who stated this during the institution’s 2013/2014 matriculation, also urged students of the school to shun anti-social behaviour.
Of the 1,582 candidates offered provisional admission to the university, 1,119 persons participated in the exercise having paid their tuition fees.
Fresh students of the school pay between N190, 000 and N400,000.
For instance, Arts/Education students pay N193,750; Social and Management Sciences, N223,750; Law, N248,750; while those in Communication/Transport, Sciences, Engineering and College of Medicine pay N238,750, N258,750, N298,750 and N348,750 in that order.
Hitherto, the fees ranged between N25,000 and N62,500.
The tuition introduced three sessions ago has continued to attract controversies, the latest resulting in the closure of the institution last January 23 for 26 days following violent students’ demonstrations.
The students, who destroyed property worth millions of naira, were protesting against the closure of the examination portal following the inability of some of them to pay their fees.
But the VC while addressing fresh students on Friday, noted that the university was not relying on their tuition to run the school.
According to him, the tuition is not even enough to pay the workers’ salaries for more than three months.
Praising the state government, Obafunwa noted that the administration of Governor Babatunde Fashola had shown enough commitment to supporting the school and its students.
According to him, the state government will this year alone provide N6bn for the recurrent expenditure and over N2.5bn for the capital expenditure.
The VC, who urged the students to shun anti-social behavior such as cultism and indecent dressing, tasked parents to contribute to nurturing their children.
He said, “The joy of today will be short-lived if the students are unable to complete their programmes due to academic deficiencies. Parents and guardians are, therefore, implored to join hands with the university in nurturing the minds of these freshmen for a brilliant, better and rewarding future as the future of this nation depends on them. You should monitor their performances and ensure that they remain on the path of academic excellence.
“Parents should warn their children to avoid cult related activities. Cultism is evil and those who participate in it are not only wreaking havoc on themselves but on the society. Penalty for cultism is expulsion.”
Meanwhile, a lecturer in the university has received a £4,000 research grant from the British Council.
The grant will enable the award winner, Prof. Benjamin Aribisala, to investigate the mechanism through which physical activities affects changes in the ageing of the brain.
