REOPEN UNILAG NOW!

No student or activists must be victimized for participating in the protest

Press Statement 

The Education Rights Campaign (ERC) calls for the immediate re-opening of the University of Lagos which was shut on Friday, 8 April 2016, following a students’ protest. We fully back the Students Union for organizing the protest which in our opinion was long overdue. We call on the authorities of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) to immediately meet all demands and re-open the university so that the students can prepare for the first Semester examination.

The protest occurred over legitimate grievances on such issues as high cost of food and other items on campus, poor electricity and water supply, poor welfare conditions especially in the hostels, issues of academic injustice and arbitrariness of the Prof-Rahamon Bello-led administration of the University of Lagos.

There is no doubt that the University of Lagos has the most expensive cost of living among all federal universities in Nigeria. Mind you, this situation is not occasioned by the recent general increase in prices of goods and services as a result of forex crises and fuel scarcity, although worsened by them.  This is a situation which goes back many years. And it is a culmination of the “cash and carry” policy of the University administration which essentially takes education as business and students as customers. This practically means students are made fair game to all kinds of exploitation first by the University authorities through high fees and sundry charges and then by the vendors on campus who are charged by the University obscene amounts for the rent of their shops and are given the free hand to pass the costs onto poor students.

A UNILAG student needs at least double of the pocket money of an average student in other federal universities to survive a semester. For instance, while a bag of sachet water costs N120 outside the University gate, it costs around N200 on the campus. The same goes for prices of food items at the canteens as well as costs of printing and photocopy. To make matters worse, the University of Lagos, in order to increase its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) at the expense of students, created a water producing company which has monopoly over the sale of sachet water on campus. Now the water company supply often falls short of demand. Several weeks before the protest, there was so much shortage of sachet water that many students had to resort to buying table water which is far more expensive. Together with this is the acute shortage of water to the hostels thus making daily life hellish for the students. For the past few weeks before the closure, many UNILAG students had to go to lectures without taking their bath.

On top of all these is the epileptic power supply on campus. But it is not all a “national problem” as the University would have us believe. The University has provision for 4 diesel-powered generators which could ensure supply of electricity even while there is outage from the distribution company. This would have at least created condition fit for students to prepare for the coming examinations. Unfortunately, only 2 of these generators are available. Question as to the whereabouts of the other two has so far not been answered by the University administration.

There are other issues concerning the arbitrary introduction of a new policy which prevents students that fails pre-requisite courses from registering them in the following academic session thereby leading to automatic extra year. Efforts by the students union to discuss a negotiated solution to this issue were equally rebuffed.

Recall that recently the same University authorities arbitrarily prevented over 100 pre-medical students who met the requirements to cross over to the University College of Medicine, Idi Araba, from doing so. Even though the affected students have since approached the court and obtained an injunction restraining the university, they have not been allowed to register in flagrant violation of the court order.

The Prof. Rahamon Bello-led management of the University of Lagos is one of arbitrariness and impunity. However the message passed by the students’ protests is that it would no longer be business as usual in UNILAG. We urge the students union to boldly continue the agitation and struggle until the demands are met.

The ERC hereby places before the university authorities the following 10-point demand:

(1) Immediate reopening of UNILAG.

(2) No student and union leaders must be victimized for participating in the peaceful protest.

(3) Provision of more generators on campus to ensure electricity supply during outages from the distribution company.

(4) An end to cash and carry education. We demand that all those who need to register pre-requisite courses they failed be allowed to do so without necessarily having to wait an extra year.

(5) An end to all academic injustice. The Unilag pre-medical students must be allowed to cross over to the University College of Medicine.

(6) No to high cost of living. For drastic reduction in the prices of all items on campus. Rents on shops must be drastically reduced as well. For a democratic committee to be set up made up of representatives of students and staff unions, vendors, transport union/associations and management officials to regularly review prices of all items sold on campus and enforce compliance.

(7) For the monopoly of UNILAG water company to be broken. All other producers of pure (sachet) water to have same right and access as Unilag pure water company to supply Unilag market

(8) A democratic probe committee made up of representatives of students, staff unions and alumni to investigate the where-about of the 2 remaining diesel-powered generators and why despite hundreds of millions that accrue to the University of Lagos, the Prof. Rahamon Bello-led management of the University of Lagos is unable to address the poor living and studying conditions on campus.

(9) Immediate renovation of hostels, improvement in the conditions of toilets, bathrooms and water supply to the hostels. We demand more public hostels to be built to eradicate squatting and overcrowding.

(10) Proper funding of UNILAG by the federal government and democratic management of the University.

                                                                                          

Hassan Taiwo Soweto                                            Michael Ogundele                          

National Coordinator (07033697259)                National Secretary

ERC LASU Holds Sensitization Activity

Today Thursday March 17 at the Lagos State University (LASU), Education Rights Campaign (ERC) members circulated 2000 copies of leaflet to sensitize students about the need to build a movement to defend the right to public education. For most of the branch members, this was their first political action. Great response from students! We won three new contacts. Great days ahead for ERC LASU. We are looking to expand membership over the next few months. So if you are willing to join and participate in future meetings and activities, call 08127350876 and 07062548053. We meet fortnightly on Fridays by 2:30pm at Law Faculty Reading Room. Next meeting date is Friday 25 March 2016. You can also join us in the group "ERC LASU Chapter" on WhatsApp. Remember that free and quality public education is a right, not privilege

JUSTICE FOR UNILAG MEDICAL STUDENTS: ERC HOLDS PRESS CONFERENCE

Being the text of a press conference addressed by the Education Rights Campaign (ERC), aggrieved students organized under the aegis of the UNILAG Medical Students for Justice (UMSJ) and their parents today, Tuesday 15 March 2016, at the International Press Centre (IPC), Ogba Lagos.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the press,

HIGH-LEVEL INJUSTICE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF LAGOS: OUR CRY FOR JUSTICE

First and foremost, we appreciate the presence of members of the press. The Education Rights Campaign (ERC) and the media have come a long way in the struggle to defend the right of poor and ordinary people to affordable and quality education. Without the support and partnership of the media, many of the battles we have won would have been very difficult to win. This is why we are using this opportunity to again say thank you.

Today we have come to you to report to the whole world another blatant injustice committed against students within our ivory towers. At the University of Lagos, a group of students of the Faculty of Science have had their dreams brutally terminated by a university administration that cares only for the greatest possible accumulation of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) rather than the future of students in its care. Their tearful story is a testament to the brutal consequences of the “cash and carry” education policy which UNILAG and other University administrations adopted years ago ostensibly to make up for government underfunding of public education.

FACTS OF THE CASE

The affected students are from the Departments of Medicine and Surgery (MBBS), Dentistry, Medical Laboratory, Nursing, Physiotherapy, Pharmacology, Physiology and Radiography respectively. They were all admitted to the above listed programmes of the Faculty of Science after participating in and passing the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) and the mandatory Post-Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (Post-UTME) test for the 2014/2015 academic session. 

As everyone knows, admission into the University system is a contract guided by a set of rules and conditions. An admitted student therefore is one who has entered into a binding agreement with the University. This binding agreement stipulated in what is generally known as a STUDENT HANDBOOK often covers conducts, duties and responsibilities expected of a student as well as stipulated academic qualifications required to progress from one class to another up to acquiring the University’s certificate in the respective courses of study. Both parties i.e. students and the University are bound to respect the provisions of this agreement or risk sanctions. In fact, an infraction committed by a student against the stipulations contained in the student handbook is enough to lead to a set of discipline ranging from suspension, rustication and outright expulsion.

But what happens when the other party to the agreement, in this case the University, commits an infraction against its provisions? Or to put it more clearly, what happens when the University admit students into certain programmes using a set of rules and conditions and then an academic session after, suddenly changes these rules in a violent breach of a contractual agreement? That is the key issue in the current dispute and it is why we have brought the University of Lagos before the court of public opinion.

Please take note that at the time of their admissions into 100 level programmes of the Faculty of Science of the University of Lagos, there were clearly established conditions or minimum entry requirements, as stipulated in the information handbook for pre-medical & pharmacy programmes 2014-2016, for the transfer of a first year (100 level) student into the College of Medicine. On pages 3 to 5 of the information handbook, these minimum requirements are itemized as follows:

(1)   Pre-Medical and Pre-Pharmacy students registered for Medicine and Surgery, Dentistry, Medical Laboratory, Nursing, Physiotherapy and Pharmacy “require cumulative score average of 50 in the three science group courses at the end of the session to advance to 200 level of the programme in which the student was admitted into”.

(2)   Pre-Medical and Pre-Pharmacy students registered for Pharmacology, Physiology and Radiography “require Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 2.00 at the end of the session to advance to 200 level.

CHANGING THE RULES IN THE MIDDLE OF A GAME

At the end of the academic session, 271 students successfully met the academic requirements for transfer into the College of Medicine. Under normal circumstances, they all by now should be busy at the College of Medicine Idi Araba studying hard to become medical doctors and other health professionals.

However, they were disallowed from doing so by the University administration who in the meantime had illegally revised upward the entry requirements into the College of Medicine in breach of the information handbook and other agreements between the University and the affected students. For instance, the cumulative score average of 50 for the Department of Medicine and Surgery, Dentistry, Medical Laboratory Science, Nursing and Physiotherapy was revised upward to possession of a 4.11 CGPA for MBBS, 3.25 CGPA for Medical Laboratory Science, 3.06 CGPA for Physiotherapy, 3.00 CGPA for Nursing, and 3.06 CGPA for Dentistry. In the same vein, the 2.00 CGPA entry qualifications for Pharmacology, Physiology and Radiology programmes was revised upward to possession of a minimum CGPA of 2.5. At the end of this illegal revision, only 169 out of the 271 students that met the original entry requirements were allowed to proceed to the MBBS, MLS, Nursing, Radiography and Physiotherapy programmes of the College of Medicine. The remaining 102 students were simply commandeered by the authorities of the University of Lagos to other programmes!

At a time of crisis in health care delivery in Nigeria as evidenced by the acute shortage of medical and health professionals in the country, the action of the University of Lagos is nothing but a crime against the nation. For instance while the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends one Nurse to 700 persons, Nigeria has a average nurse population ratio of 1 to 1, 066 persons. In the same vein while the WHO recommends an average of one pharmacist per 2000 population, Nigeria has approximately one pharmacist per 12, 000 population. The situation with the doctors is even more alarming. No other person than the Provost of the College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Prof. Folashade Ogunsola made the shocking disclosure in November last year at the opening of a three-day Capacity Development Programme for Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) Academic Staff in Nigerian Universities organized by National Universities Commission in Abuja that there are only 35, 000 doctors in Nigeria while 237, 000 doctors are urgently needed to meet the WHO recommendation of one doctor to 600 persons (Premium Times, Nov 2, 2015). This invariably amount to less than 25 doctors to more than 100, 000 population!  As we all know, this situation has led to countless death of Nigerians especially poor and ordinary citizens who cannot afford the cost of travelling out of the country to seek medical attention.

Please permit us to quote Prof. Folashade Ogunsola again in order to more clearly show to you the dire situation we are in. According to her “Assuming no doctor leaves this country after being trained; going by the number coming from our medical schools every year, it will take us about 100 years to have the number of doctors we need.’’ (Premium Times, Nov. 2, 2015).

Against this background, you can then begin to understand why we accuse the University of Lagos of committing a serious crime against the nation. The country and our universities should be encouraging young people to take up careers in the medical and health professions instead of discouraging them and killing their dreams as University of Lagos is presently doing. It is therefore our strong opinion that the decision of the University to prevent these students to proceed to the College of Medicine is one taken in bad faith, unpatriotic and clearly runs contrary to the needs of the health sector in Nigeria. In short, this decision poses a threat to the health of all Nigerians and the survival of the health sector which is why we are urging members of the public to prevail on the University of Lagos to reverse this ill-advised decision.

MANAGEMENT LIES AND BLACKMAILS

Anxious to justify this fraud, the University authorities have resorted to lies, contradictions, half-truth and blackmails. At one point, the University has even claimed that the students failed. Meanwhile, all available records including the students’ statements of result show that they all met the academic requirements or entry points into the College of Medicine as stipulated in the University’s Information Handbook. By changing the entry requirements arbitrarily which constitutes a breach of agreement, it is the University that has committed a crime against the affected students.

On another occasion, the University in a press release issued and circulated by the Information Unit of the Vice Chancellor’s office on 10 February 2016 gave a different reason for its ill-advised decision. According to the press release, the reason for the situation the affected students found themselves was because of the quota system prescribed by the professional bodies regulating the health profession courses at the College of Medicine. To quote the press release, “This year the professional bodies have insisted on the enforcement of the quota upon which accreditation is hinged and hence the College has had to conform … Senate at its meeting held on Wednesday, 27^th January, 2016 had approved the implementation of the re-arrangement to conform with the professional bodies quota in order not to lose accreditation. This has regrettably meant that we have been only able to receive students into the College only up to the number the College of Medicine is allowed by the quota”. From this, we can see clearly that the issue was not that the students failed. Indeed at the end of the press release, the University expressed “regret” that its action “has led to some students being unable to cross over into the College of Medicine or their course of choice”.

As far as we are concerned, these quotas are not new. They have always been there. The truth is that because the University runs a foundation course programme concurrently with the UTME class in order to boost its Internationally Generated Revenue (IGR), it has to pick from both classes for transfer into the College of Medicine. Apparently this time around, more students than expected passed and the University had to unjustly devise a method to weed out some in order to keep up within the bounds of the quotas for each programmes. This is why the entry requirements were arbitrarily revised upward thus adversely denying these students the opportunity of crossing over to the College of Medicine. These students have now been asked by the University to transfer to other programmes and those who refuse are being bullied and intimidated.

What the University of Lagos has done amount to changing the rules in the middle of a game. We find it totally unacceptable. It is unjust and condemnable. We call on the Students Union, Staff unions in the University of Lagos, medical and health workers unions and the general public to join us in condemning the actions of the University. An injury to one is an injury to all.

We hold that the affected students must not be made to suffer for the indiscretion of the university. We demand that they be allowed to proceed to the College of Medicine the entry requirements of which they have successfully met. By killing their dreams, it is Nigeria and Nigerians who urgently need more doctors, nurses and other health professionals that we are killing in the last analysis.

Thank you,

                                                                                          

Hassan Taiwo Soweto                                            Michael Ogundele                          

National Coordinator (07033697259)                 National Secretary