The Education Rights Campaign, ERC, has condemned the exorbitant tuition fees imposed upon students of the Lagos State University, LASU.

It would be recalled that the Lagos Government in 2011 increased student tuition fees by 725 per cent as against the previous fees. This development led to a plethora of upheavals in the university including a student crisis that led to the shutdown of the university last month. Although LASU has been partially reopened, the ERC believes that “the fee hike is a death pill that threatens the very existence of the university itself.”

In a press statement, the national coordinator of the ERC, Mr. Hassan Soweto said: “Today, LASU has the worst enrolment especially among state universities in Nigeria going by its fast declining student population. From the status of a state university with one of the biggest student population, LASU now has less than 13,000 students. By the time the current 300 level and final-year students graduate, there may be less than 6,000 students remaining in the university.

This is because no one wants to go to LASU again due to the outrageous fees. Indeed, an offer of admission from Lagos State University instead of being a source of joy for families has now become a matter of anguish and sorrow. There are heart-rending stories of parents selling cars, lands and other valuables to pay their children’s fees. This state of affairs is unfair, unjust and anti-people.”

The group also called upon stakeholders not to relent in the fight for LASU. He continued: “Particularly, we welcome the approval of N51 million by Governor Fashola for the repair of the university’s properties instead of the previously planned agenda to charge students reparation. This shows that struggle pays and the impact our protest and agitation over the past three weeks have had and that if we continue, we can win far more.

We in the ERC and the Save LASU Movement are confident and convinced that if a campaign of three weeks could force out these limited concessions from the government, a more tenacious campaign would gain even more. However, in view of the limitations of these concessions, LASUITES need now to be more confident in continuing the struggle until all demands, especially the reversal of hiked fees, are met.”

Soweto also called on the Lagos State Government to allow non-final year students to resume. He said: “We demand that rather than open the university for final year students alone, all students must be allowed to resume, register and write examinations. Please note that we have continued to make this demand because so far, neither the management of the university nor the state government has been able to offer any credible explanation why other categories of students cannot resume alongside the final year students.”