One of the problems in Nigeria’s higher institutions today is the cost of acquiring university education. It is steadily being priced out of the reach of children from poor economic backgrounds. Mostly affected are state-owned universities, which their proprietors have turned into money-making enterprises at the expense of the students.
Thus, education, which ordinarily should be a major social responsibility of the government to the people, has become a commodity going to the highest bidder, as reflective of the new fees regime introduced at the Ondo State Government-owned Adekunle Ajasin University.
In March, the Ondo State Government, through the university’s Governing Council, announced new tuition fees. Depending on the course of study, and faculty, the fees range from N150,000 to N250,000, from the initial charges of between N30,000 and N35,000, respectively.
Expectedly, the unprecedented fee upgrade has generated crisis in the state, as stakeholders in the education sector, especially students and parents, vehemently opposed the government action, which they tagged anti-people, and against the principle of free education that Ondo was noted for over the years.
However, following the widespread criticism that trailed the unpopular action, the management of the university reduced the fees to N100,000 and N150,000, a reduction of between 33.33 per cent and 40 per cent, which many students still cannot afford.
Unlike the federal institutions, where tuition fees are as low as N30,000, state universities generally charge higher fees, forcing many indigent students to abandon their education midway due to their parents’ inability to cope among competing economic demands.
Meanwhile, discriminatory fees payable by indigene and non-indigene students is also rearing its head in the states. For instance, the University of Medical Science, Ondo, imposes N340,000 and N400,000 for indigenes and non-indigenes; Ondo State University of Science and Technology levies N120,000 and N150,000.
The Lagos State University (LASU) charges N26,000 and N31,000; the Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University (IBBU), Lapai (N27,800 and N55,300); Kebbi State University of Science & Technology (N38,000 and N85,000); while the fees at the Benue State University are N92,000 and N147,000, for indigene and non-indigene students.
Also worrisome is the differential in fees paid by fresh and returning students. At the newly established Oyo State Government-owned Oyo Technical University, Ibadan, fresh and returning students pay N998,500 and N949,500, accordingly. At LAUTECH, it’s N75,000 and N150,000; while at the Plateau State University, Bokkos, it’s N36,000 for returning students and N50,000 for fresh students.
Indiscriminate hiking of school fees and other sundry levies in state-controlled institutions not only compound the economic hardship experienced by most families, but also narrows access to university education for children of the poor, and erodes the role of education as the fulcrum of national development.
Societies are measured by the quality of education and level of literacy of the citizenry. Therefore, it behoves the state governments, especially Ondo State, to explain whether children can no longer attend the universities built by the people’s commonwealth.
We hold that for a state like Ondo, with oil derivation and other mineral resources at its disposal, the idea to price education out of the reach of the downtrodden is unacceptable, and should be reviewed without much ado.
Although university education cannot be totally free, it is, nonetheless, obligatory for state governments to subsidize the cost for their citizens, by looking inward to generate funds from other sources, rather than relying solely on increased school fees to fund their institutions.
Hike in school fees by the management of higher institutions, under the directive of the state governments, is evidently a sign of ineffective governance by the leadership, who have failed to identify the relevance of education to galvanise the development of the people and state.
In addressing this shortcoming, state governments should be conscious of the fact that students, who attend these universities, are mostly children of farmers, artisans, petty traders and low income earners in the civil service, who are owed arrears by these same governments.
This situation cannot be allowed to continue. All levels of education, university inclusive, must be made more accessible in terms of available space, conducive learning environment and affordability to the people.
Any government desirous of greatness in terms of socio-economic and political development, and advancement in technological and industrial growth must take a cue from countries like Finland, China and other developed nations that made education their first priority in the scheme of overall development.
In view of this understanding, the various governments should marshal out plans, such as provision of education loans, work studies scheme, and other students’ enhanced programmes that will favour and encourage students of poor economic well-being to acquire education at less cost and burden to their parents.
The issue of exorbitant fees sweeping across the states does not augur well for the country, where parents have to pay through their nose to educate their children. So, we call for the abolishment, in our institutions of higher learning, all unfavourable tuition charges, such as high fees, and segregated levies for indigenes and non-indigenes, and returning and fresh students.
