We Call On LASUITES To Be Steadfast
in the Struggle to Reverse the Hiked Fees
Press
Statement
Last Friday, Governor Fashola issued a number of directives
on the Lagos State University (LASU). The directives reportedly based on the
report of the adhoc Committee of the House granted approval for the reopening
of the University on Monday 24 February for final year students alone and the
release of N51million for the repair of University properties allegedly damaged
during the unfortunate crisis on January 23, 2014.
To start with, we must point out that these directives by
the State government show the spirited campaign mounted since 1st February 2014
by the Education Rights Campaign (ERC) and LASU students organised under the
umbrella platform called #SaveLASU Campaign Movement is beginning to have an
effect.
We see the directives by the Governor as concessions to the
agitation of LASU students over the past three weeks. On Tuesday 18 February
2014, LASU students marched on the Lagos State House of Assembly to submit a
petition bearing demands for immediate reopening of the University and no to
charging of students reparation on account of the allegedly damaged University
properties.
We are pleased that two days after our peaceful protest,
Governor Fashola has started to meet, even though not fully, some of our
demands. Particularly, we welcome the approval of N51million 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 #SaveLASU 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.
We welcome the partial reopening of the University. However
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
University Management nor the State Government has been able to offer any
credible explanation why other categories of students cannot resume alongside
the Final year students on the 24 of February 2014.
Our argument is that all that prevented the second
examinations from being written on 23 January 2014 was students reaction to the
Vice Chancellor's obstinate refusal to open the University's portal just for 24
hours so that 1,292 students could register. Now that the University has now
agreed to reopen the portal from Monday 24 February to midnight Tuesday 25,
February 2014, we see no reason why all categories of students especially the
1,292 students cannot resume at the same time to take advantage of the
reopening of the portal on February 24 and 25, write their examinations and
thereby bring to a close this academic session which has now entered its 16th
month.
This directive on partial resumption will hurt the best
interests of most students including many final year students. The best
interest of all LASUITES is to bring to an end this academic session which has
dragged on for far too long and is now in its 16th month. On the contrary, what
Governor Fashola's directive on resumption will do is extend the academic
session for a majority of LASUITES. Even the best interest of a number of final
year students will not be served by this ill-advised directive. For instance a
number of final year students that have carryovers in 300 and 200 level courses
will be unable to write the examinations of these courses by virtue of this
partial reopening of the Institution. The implication is that some final year
students will be unable to graduate as they will have to wait till April when
other categories of students are billed to write their second semester examinations.
However now that Governor Fashola appears interested to
resolve the crisis his government created in LASU, we urge him to go the whole
hog by directing the immediate reversal of the hiked fees. As we have argued
severally, LASU as an institution will continue to court crisis unless the root
cause of disturbances which is the fee hike is reversed.
Our greatest concern however is that the fee hike is a
deathpill that threatens the very existence of the University itself. 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 current 300 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.
Lagos belongs to all, not just the rich few alone. We shall therefore continue the struggle for
reversal of the outrageous, inhumane, unjust and anti-people fees of the Lagos
State University until the government recognises the urgency of rectifying the
situation.
If we fight we may win, if we don't, we have already lost
SAVE LASU! SAVE THE
FUTURE!!!
Hassan
Taiwo Soweto
Michael Ogundele
National
Coordinator
National Secretary
07033697259
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