LASU students reject fee reduction by Fashola

• Say over 1,000 students dropped out because of fee hike By GABRIEL DIKE Less than 24 hours after Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State announced the review of the contentious school fee, the Lagos State University Students Union (LASUSU) yesterday rejected the offer, insisting on 67 per cent reduction across board. Addressing newsmen on the state government’s gesture at the International Press Centre (IPC), Ogba, LASUSU President, Yusuf Nurudeen, said the student body did not accept 34 per cent and 60 per cent announced by the governor on Wednesday. The students union president also faulted the claim by the Vice Chancellor, Prof. John Obafunwa, that no student had dropped out of LASU since the fee hike in 2011, saying figures before the union revealed that over 1,000 students quit. Nurudeen, who addressed newsmen alongside LASUSU Treasurer, Adeboye Paul and the General Secretary, Orji Emeka, said when the state government increased the fee in 2011, it was not done based on percentage, rather, they made the pronouncement in naira and kobo. His words: “We urge government to come out in extant words as to how much will be payable by our students in naira and kobo and not in percentage. How do they expect our parents, the market women scrambling to pay our fees, calculate the percentage?” According to him, what LASU students wanted was for the state government to reduce the fees on compassionate ground as contained in their proposal to the governor dated April 3, 2014 noting: “We recognise the fact that the governing council is statutorily empowered by the law that established LASU to consider the school fee. Even if we want to accept the percentage reduction, we can only accept 67 per cent across board.” He recalled that after several protests by LASU students, Governor Fashola asked the union to submit a proposal based on what the students could afford, thus a proposal of N46,500 tuition fee for old students and N65,500 for freshers was prepared after consultations with stakeholders and submitted to the governor. “The proposal was sent to the governor on April 24, 2014. The proposal was followed by several reminders. We discovered that the Lagos State Government was not ready to listen to our yearnings and aspirations. We decided to embark on peaceful protests to sensitise the public and demand that our proposal on the reduction of fee should be approved,” he said. On the drop out issue raised by the vice chancellor, Nurudeen said the students union was saddened by the comments attributed to Prof. Obafunwa that no student dropped out of school since 2011 when the state government introduced the fee hike. He words: “I don’t know where the vice chancellor got his figures. All facultie students are dropping out because of the high tuition fees. More than 1,000 have dropped out. We presented about three of such students to Governor Fashola as evidence when he demanded to see those affected.” Nurudeen accused the Lagos State Police Command of assaulting and arrest students on peaceful protest, adding that 10 students were injured, 14 others were arrested while eight were arraigned before a Magistrate Court in Ikeja.