LASU Crisis: Students Insist On Full Reversal of Tuition Hike

Students under the aegis of #SaveLASU are insisting on a total reversal of tuition at the Lagos State University (LASU). Their decision emerged in a meeting of the #SAVELASU group held on Saturday to deliberate on the offer of reduction of fees made by the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Raji Fashola. Earlier, at a meeting with the students, the governor had asked the students to come up with numbers to which the fees could be lowered, indicating he would not want to reverse the hike completely. At that meeting, which was attended by ZONE D wing National Association of Nigerians Students (NANS, ZONE D), the #SaveLASU group and the Education Rights Campaign (ERC), Governor Fashola had emphasized that for LASU to become a world-class institution, parents and students must be willing to pay more. He then urged the students to come up with their proposal. A member of the #SaveLASU group told Saharareporters that at their meeting, they concluded that the Lagos State Government could achieve the dream of making the Lagos State University a world-class institution without stifling parents or making it inaccessible to the children of the masses. “If the Lagos State Government is serious about its claim, we challenge therefore that it should implement the 26% UNESCO recommendation on Education,”said a member of the group. The group expressed the view that the government was capable of giving education to every Lagosian as well as Nigerians residing in Lagos State without taking the fee to unreachable heights. They noted that most working class people cannot afford what the government is demanding, drawing attention to the average wages of workers in Lagos State. “Although it is the choice of students at the institution to either agree for the fee reduction or for complete reversal, but for us we believe that the Government can achieve free education for all citizens with a high quality and taste,” the students argued. Some of them also pointed out that as a student Governor Fashola had enjoyed free and qualitative education at the University of Benin, and questioned why he now seems bent on destroying the bridge after he had crossed it. During a symposium by the group last week, a son of late radical human rights lawyer, Chief Gani Fawehinmi, Mr. Mohammed Fawehinmi, narrated that the father of Governor Fashola, as well as the Governor himself, enjoyed free education. Video of Mohammed Fawehinmi’s speech critical of Governor Fashola’s educational policy is at the following address: https://www.youtube.com /watch?v=LGhTVO-CSxM In a conversation, the National coordinator of the ERC, Mr. Hassan Soweto, called on the APC-led Government in Lagos State to practice what it has always preached on good governance by making education accessible to every citizen of the country.