The uproar that greeted the news of an increase in sundry charges by the University of Lagos on July 21, 2023 came to those who are in the know as a shock. The university had at a meeting with the school’s unions revealed a new regime of sundry charges: Students undergoing courses without laboratory and studio – N100,750; Students with laboratory and studio – N145,250; and Students in College of Medicine – N190,250. Details of the resolutions however stated that there are still variations to the proposed sundry charges, depending on courses and levels of students. The Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof. Folashade Tolulope Ogunshola, justified this move: “The new charges were set nationally and could not be modified for specific categories of students.” Expectedly, a rash of reactions immediately trailed the pronouncement.
But the reaction was shocking to those who have been following developments in Federal Government universities.
This was because a host of others, especially in the North, had commenced the implementation of the new regime of sundry charges a year ago or announced it. For instance, in the ongoing 2022/2023 academic session, an adjustment was announced to the fees to be charged by the authorities of University of Ilorin. For the school, while freshers in Sciences and other Departments, apart from Medicine, are to pay about N65,000, the returnees under the same category have to pay over N40,000. Also, returnees in the Medicine Department will pay N75,000, while their counterparts in other Departments under the College of Medicine are to shell out N50,000.
Similarly, at the Federal University Wukari, Taraba State, it was goodbye to old sundry charges at the inception of the current academic year. There, the fresh students (non medical) paid N102,000; Medicine students, N200,000; while those in other Departments in the College of Medicine paid N130,000. For the returnees studying Medicine, the fee charged was N156,000, while other students in the College paid N121,000. In other Departments, while some students paid N60,000, others paid N70,000 as fees.
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Barely after a week after the announcement was made and the attendant public reactions, the Federal Government broke its silence on the subject. On July 26, President Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Special Duties, Communications and Strategy, Dele Alake, offered the explanation, saying the government never increased tuition, insisting that it is free. Alake, in his statement on behalf of the Federal Government, said: “We are aware that some universities have in recent weeks announced an increase in the amount payable by students on sundry charges. However, the fact remains and we have confirmed that these are discretionary charges by each university for hostel accommodation, registration, laboratory and other charges. They are not tuition fees. Authorities of these universities even made this fact clear enough in explaining the rationale behind these new fees. For the avoidance of doubts, federal universities in Nigeria remain tuition-free.”
It is curious that at this age and time, the Federal Government is still insisting on running a tuition-free university education. One of the errors successive governments in the country keep committing is the way university education is run in the country. To put it succinctly and without fear of contradiction, Nigeria runs the cheapest education system in the entire world! Expectedly, the approach has not added up! Successive Nigerian Governments in the name of subsidising university education has naively shouldered not less than 75 per of their annual capital and recurrent spendings.
It is almost only in Nigeria that university lecturers depend on “handout” from the government. Unfortunately, stiff opposition by the lecturers under the aegis of the Academic Staff Union of Universities and lack of political will by the government to heed the calls for review of the mix of funding the institutions of higher learning in the country painfully brought us to where we are today.
The same ASUU that is standing against a standard revolution in the universities, would again turn around to hold the government by the jugular and protest against poor salaries, poor working conditions and demand for capital development! This is a sheer contradiction and hypocrisy of some forces that have constituted themselves in academic circles into a cartel.
The implications of this wrong approach is that our universities remain underdeveloped in the real sense of the word. Great! The Tertiary Education Trust Fund touch has been visible and felt in all the Federal Universities in terms of road construction, electricity supply, hostel and academic blocks constructions. However, the capital and infrastructural development required in our Universities go beyond what TETFund has been able to achieve as we speak.
It is a known fact that laboratories for Science, Engineering and Medical students in Nigerian universities are not only inadequately equipped, but “ailing” and moribund! It is not as if nothing is being done in the first place, but the government and universities lack adequate financial muscles to turn around and position them to the global standard. Talk about very expensive chemicals, modern facilities to be used by instructors, laboratory technologists for practicals, researches, by lecturers and students in Science, Engineering and Medical departments, we are not just there! This time, all stakeholders must face the stark reality for the nation’s universities to be really upgraded and transformed.
On its part, giving the state of the Universities and expectation from Nigerians with critical thoughts on the topic, the Federal Government should shun rhetorics as Alake seemed to attempt in his statement on this matter. The issue is: be clear on hike in tuition, let the universities run independently on veritable financial footing, make them self-funding and let there be rapid transformation, make competition and real development the hallmarks to draw attention, credibility, more income and additional growth. This is the standard in developed countries and nations that prioritise and are serious about their higher education.
As a leverage to this, we must state clearly that President Tinubu’s desire to sign the Students’ Loans Bill into Law and to make it effective from the next academic session is a good step to unveil the new dawn. However, the question is: Which portion of the tuition is or are to be captured by the loans? Is it the basic fee or together with the sundry charges, which is said to be discretionary? Clarification is very key here.
Another measure expected to be put in place and ensure the success of the scheme is the floating of the Education Bank. Interestingly again, this was provided for in the Students’ Loans Law. It must be recalled here that it was the same idea of ensuring that the Nigerian Universities are made to be self-funding that made Senior Lawyer and industrialist, Wale Babalakin (SAN), clash with leaders of ASUU and immediate former Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, when he was Chairman of the UNILAG Governing Council. Unfortunately, Babalakin lost the battle.
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And this takes us to ASUU’s historical and its hypocritical advocacy and clamours for infrastructural development in the Universities. The truth of the matter is: The ASUU leadership is not sincere. The leaders are lazy and full of double standards. Some of them live large in the public Universities, collect the Federal Government’s “handout” and engage in “runs” in many private Universities, occupying choice positions in them and enjoying facilities facilitated and driven by private parents’ incomes. What a shame!
Again, there is an aspect of “blind realities” in the theory always adduced and promoted by ASUU to justify why the government must fund the Universities. Always, the Union claims its struggle is for the benefit of the students of indigent parents. This is not true! Researches have shown that children of the most poor parents are always frustrated by rich parents who by their desperation promote admission rackets. In the end, many children from poor parents lose out and end up in States’ Universities or Polytechnics, which are more expensive. So, who is fooling who?
This time, ASUU leaders should gear up and face the reality: that the government cannot and should not be tasked to shoulder the funding of our Universities to a standard level they always canvass. This time, ASUU should not call out any strike or mobilise any party to protest against the tuition hike, which most of the Universities have already done. In any case, the country is tired of having students spending extra years on campus due to lecturers’ strikes for the same reasons the adjustment in sundry charges can change to a standard above what they are now.
For the parents and guardians, it is also time to sift the grains from the shafts. The reasoning should be: If fees are increased and students’ loans are available, while proper repayment plan is spelt out, and most significantly the real development and facelift are visible in our citadels, it should be appreciated that this is the standard and mix of growing higher education in the world over. What parents should watch out for is for the government to “walk its talk”. Again, parents and guardians should be ready to also play their part. Truth must be told, education is not free anywhere in the world. And not a few know about this.
The Nigeria Labour Congress is a key stakeholder in the ongoing conversation. Already, it has called for a strike slated for August 2 to protest against “anti-poor” government policies. We don’t have issues about the right of a recognised body embarking on an industrial action. Still, we want to strongly caution and advise NLC to give issues relating to tuitions a new, more broader, objective and careful look. Another bitter truth the NLC needs to be confronted with is moderation in calling for increase in wages. The Union should know that whenever there is an upward review of salaries, the move automatically affects every aspect of life. So, if care is not taken, we may be toying with “stagflation” – recurring inflation.
Finally, in line with the issue under review and the roles to be played by both ASUU and NLC, instead of being an impediment to the revitalisation of our Universities and narrowing their demands on salaries increase, the two bodies will do far better if government is allowed to implement measures that will bring standard into our Universities, support measures already taken to improve power, liberalise the oil and gas sector and put government on its toes to develop industries to boost agriculture and manufacturing. All of these will grow our economy satisfactorily, reduce inflation, which has always attended salary increases and lack of manufacturing activities in the country. Indeed, it is time to hold government accountable and force its hands in returning the country to a manufacturing hub rather than a consumption nation with a huge population depending, almost entirely, on imported products.
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