That unrealistic LASU fees hike



Governor Fashola



Disapprovals and indignations have greeted the recent hike in school fees for students of Lagos State University (LASU). Nevertheless, the Babatunde Raji Fashola government has shown no indication it is ready to shift grounds on this ill-advised policy. Governor Fashola is depopularising education and thus making it exclusive for the children of the rich. Hiking fees from N25, 000 to between N195,000 and N350,000 per session for fresh students smacks of insensitivity of the highest order. With the existence of diverse regimes of taxes which already are seen as huge burdens to Lagosians, it is unwise for a government that is reluctant to implement a meagre N18, 000 minimum wage to even contemplate a 750 percent hike in school fees. This indeed is an expensive joke; a caricature of its highest magnitude.

One can’t help but wonder if government now wakes up from its slumber and announces a new policy without carrying out an elaborate assessment of its impact on the society? Lagosians would like to know the background and antecedents of the members of the Visitation Panel that recommended these new fees. Is their decision inclined towards self-seeking; a reversal of the gains of liberalised education policy for which Lagos was known with an aristocratic one?
 I think it is germane we know for sure what prompted this ill-timed and improbable decision. Some people are already of the belief that the aim is to ground state owned educational institutions in order to pave the way for private institutions to thrive in their money gyratory venture. That government is attempting to sustain this derogatory action by exempting old students from it is another height of charlatanism and hypocrisy. Those fresh students who will suffer the burden of these new fees are their parents or financiers earning differently from the rest of Lagosians? Or are they aliens or foreigners with special means of generating their incomes?
No doubt, these new fees are directed to widening the existing gap between the rich and poor. In plain words, the deprived and proletarian class in the state is targeted and would be cut off from accessing tertiary education. Was this canvassed by Fashola during the buildup to the April 2011 general elections? In civilised climes, this decoy amounts to a scam on the electorate. Why would a vying politician hide his/her intended agenda from electorate only to punish them when he or she has attained the seat of power? I guess the Nigerian electorate should be wiser now, and discard the passive and disinterested disposition to ask questions where necessary, especially when politicians go cap in hand begging for votes. If Fashola was asked how he intended to fund education in the state during his campaign for reelection, the new increment won’t come as a surprise; that is, if he was bold enough to disclose the thrust of his new education policy to the people.

What the governor should know is that it is more expensive to control a populace where ignorance thrives than training a few educated people. With this fees hike, the long-run effect is to breed a populace that whirl in ignorance, as only a few people can now afford higher education. The LASU some of us attended at the dawn of the millennium was a pride to us given the level of intellectual intercourse and the capable hands that imparted knowledge to us. I remember final year students were made to pay N150 while other students paid N250 as school fees. Justifying the hike in fees on the need to rehabilitate poor infrastructure and enhance personnel welfare is not tenable.

Taking a comparative analysis of performance of graduated students who were privileged to enjoy the aforementioned low fees and the current students where is the justification for further increase in fees?

The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) no doubt has opposed President Jonathan’s proposed move for subsidy removal. No doubt, what Fashola government’s has done with the ballooned fee hike is worse compared to what Nigerians will suffer when the new policy on oil is implemented. One wonders what the ACN government policy on education would be when it captures power at the centre. It is high time the party called Fashola to order and made him consult widely with all the stakeholders, especially the students union government before settling for a compromise fees. This single act if allowed to stay can jeopardise its chances in future elections in the state and federal levels.