NO INDIGENT STUDENT WILL BE DENIED EDUCATION IN LAGOS STATE – FASHOLA

Lagos State Government has offered to help
any new student of the State’s University who
stands the risk of losing his/her admission as
a result of indigene and any current student
who may have problem coping with the fees
due to the same reason.
The government explaining its principle of “No
child must be left behind” said, it has since
the introduction of new fees regime in the
Lagos State University three years ago
consecutively doubled its budget for
scholarship for its residents to enable indigent
students have access to education. This is in
addition to providing bursary award to all
indigenes in higher institutions across the
country.
Addressing members of zone D of National
Association of Nigerian Students comprising
South West, who made a peaceful protest to
him on the situation of higher education in the
country, the State Governor, Mr. Babatunde
Fashola (SAN), said apart from raising the
budget, his administration also put a N200
million grant in place for LASU students
adding, “Our resolution is that no student will
be left behind as a result of inability to pay the
school fees. We have raised the fees but we
have also provided a cushion”.
“Get admission to that school and if you
cannot pay we will give you scholarship to
cover the course you got admission for. The
debate is access. If there are children who
cannot get in as a result let me have their list
and the list of those who have dropped out as
a result. We will give scholarship. So in a
sense, what we have taken with one hand we
have given back with the other hand”, he said.
Fashola, who recalled that the decision to
increase the fees was part of the
recommendations of Visitation Panel set up by
his government in line with the demand of the
students of the school added, “You came to
the House of Assembly and asked the House to
pass a resolution compelling me as Visitor to
the School to set up a Visitation Panel. It was
your decision that the school be upgraded.
“We didn’t jump into LASU, you came here to
the House of Assembly asking the House to
pass a resolution that I should set up a Panel
as Visitor of the School. The House passed the
Resolution and I set up the Panel and the
consequent decisions are what we are
implementing, upgrade of Infrastructure,
building new classrooms, new library, a Senate
Building and so on” the Governor said.
Noting that the government’s intervention in
the school has been yielding results , Fashola
explained that almost all the courses in the
school have been accredited by the Nigerian
Universities Commission (NUC) as against
what it was pre-2011.
On the question of the number of students the
university could admit at a time, Fashola
explained that the State Government is limited
by the National Universities Commission quota
on the number of students to be admitted at
every session adding that it is required for the
purpose of accreditation of courses.
“Every University in this country has a limit of
the students it should admit based on the
spaces that we have and it is the NUC that
allots that number as regulators of Universities
Education. Often times you may hear that
accreditation has been withdrawn; it is as a
result of when schools are crowded”, the
Governor explained.
He recalled that some Law graduates from the
school could not go to Law School four years
after graduation because NUC said the
University exceeded the number of students to
admit adding that he had to personally
intervene last year to the Director of Education
in the Law School to allow the graduates take
their examination.
“If we continue to exceed our quota then we
will continue to have the problem”, the
Governor said adding that although Lagos
State needs another university his
administration has resolved that it would not
build another university until LASU problem is
sorted out and the institution repositioned
“from what you call it to what it should be”.
He said the university was built to
accommodate both children of the rich and the
poor pointing out that building a university
exclusively for children of the poor and another
for children of the rich would tantamount to
setting a time bomb for the future.
“A university must be a place where children of
the poor and children of the rich can develop
together as a generation. For me and for those
who advise us it was a time bomb waiting to
explode in future. When you develop a
university and say it is for the poor I don’t
think there is a chance there. That is my view”.
Commenting on disruption of academic
activities in the school, the Governor who
offered to meet with the student on Thursday
to show them the facts behind the decision to
increase fees, declared, “I want a solution in
LASU. If you say disruption, it is not a one-
way thing. This one is not your lecturers. We
have had some measure of stability in LASU
until this one. Even if the lecturers did
anything to provoke you, you should have
sought to reach us”.
Based on the agreement reached at Monday’s
meeting, the Governor will meet with the
students again on Thursday when the parties
would evolve ways of moving the school
forward.