News

School Fees: Trouble Looms As NANS Writes UNILAG, Demands Immediate Reversal

Published

10 months ago

August 1, 2023

Editor

The National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, has written the management of the University of Lagos, UNILAG, requesting a reversal of the recent increment in school fees.

UNILAG had in a statement dated July 20, 2023, increased fees for undergraduate students in the institution following a meeting by the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, SSANU, UNILAG branch, and top management staff.

The union, in the statement, said the VC stated that fees would be increased for UNILAG undergraduate students.

As per the increment, students of the institution studying medicine who previously paid N19,000 will now pay N190,250 while for courses that require laboratory and studio, students are to pay N140,250.

NANS in the letter addressed to the Vice Chancellor of the institution lamented that the increment was not done in good faith and cannot stand.

The letter signed by the Public Relations Officer of the body, Comr. Giwa Yisa Temitope reads: “It is with all sense of duty, and patriotism I write to address the wave of fee increments I have come across on pages of newspaper about the University of Lagos which is my institution of study.

“Without boring you with unnecessary rhetoric, I want to state categorically that the increment was not done in good faith and as such CANNOT stand. It is embarrassing that the University management took an arbitrary decision to increase sundry levies being paid by the students without consideration and consultation with the oﬃcial representative of students.

“To be clear, we are not oblivious of the age-long suspension of independent students’ unionism in UNILAG – an unacceptable situation NANS under our leadership is committed to reverse. But this however does not constitute a good enough reason for the university authorities to take a decision that would have far-reaching effects on the studentship and future of students without the decency to consult them through their oﬃcial representatives, which in the absence of a union structure, is the NANS.

“Though, if consultation were to have been done, as students, we would have still argued against fee increment because it is obviously an attempt to deny thousands of students access to education.

“As much as it is public knowledge that successive administration has failed to properly (I don’t want to use the word ‘fully’ because they have obviously not been funding it) fund education, the students and their suﬀering parents must not be made to carry the brunt of governmental failure.

“Global statistics have shown that Nigeria has 133 million poor people and tops the chart of unemployment with 33.3%. This is not just alarming but should be very worrisome to every Ivory Towers.

“No wonder, even senior workers in the Senior Staﬀ Association of Nigeria (SSANU) at UNILAG cannot pay the new fees, as it is shown in their statement made available to the management and public. So, which parent can aﬀord these obnoxious fees?!

“The same way lecturers are stakeholders in the University campus is the same manner students are major stakeholders. Without students, there cannot be a university. Hence, they must be consulted before any action is taken in the University. Unfortunately, that was not done.

“I am, by this writing, on the mandate placed on me by Nigerian students, demanding an immediate reversal of the levies that have been introduced. I also demand that whatever payment that must have been made by students to this eﬀect must be reversed with immediate eﬀect.

“If and when the management sees the need for any increments, students should be called to the roundtable. However, we reject all the so-called palliatives rolled out thus far. As thinkers, we prefer to prevent sickness instead of taking pills.

“With this letter, we are asking all students of UNILAG not to pay a dime more from the old fees. We are also by this letter informing the authorities of our intention to pay a visit to the institution on Wednesday 2nd August 2023, to hold a congress of UNILAG students where all issues pertaining to the welfare of Nigerian students will be discussed.

“Should the management wish to take the opportunity of our presence in the institution on Wednesday to meet and discuss with students leaders about issues pertaining to the increased fees, we would be very much happy to make ourselves available.

“We thank the management for your audience. We promise to keep being as serene and intellectual as ever!”

VANGUARD

News

Excitement, Dance As ‘Looted Ancestral Stools’ Return To Oba Of Benin

Published

14 mins ago

May 18, 2024

Editor

It was a moment of joy, excitement and dance at the palace of the Oba of Benin as the revered monarch, Oba Ewuare II took custody of two looted royal stools from the German government.

They were handed over to the National Commission for Museums and Monuments, NCMM on behalf of the Nigerian government by the German authorities in 2022.

The Director-General of
National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Mr Olugbile Holloway made the presentation on behalf of the Federal Government on Saturday May18, 2024 in Oba of Benin Palace, Benin City.

According to history, the artefacts — Bronze and wooden Royal stools (Ekete), made during the reign of Oba Eresoyen and Oba Esigie several Centuries ago, were looted from Oba Palace during the punitive expedition in 1897.

Addressing the Benin Throne during the presentation of the artefacts, Mr Holloway, pledged on behalf of NCMM, to work-hand-in hand with the Benin Royal Court in uplifting and displaying Edo heritage.

He revealed that as the Benin Bronzes and other art works are gradually making their way home (Nigeria), “NCMM will join hands with the Royal Court to create a befitting destination for people around the world to come and appreciate these works”.

“What you see before us were originally taken away from the Royal family in 1897.

“We have a stool made of Bronze and a wooden stool.

“I speak for every member of my team, to say that we remain loyal to the Royal Court. And if there is anything we can do, we will do to support this laudable initiative.

“This heritage is not just Benin heritage, but Nigeria’s heritage.
When we speak of Benin heritage, there is nobody that doesn’t know the great works of ours.

“I appreciate you, we will always do what we can do with our powers to make His Royal Majesty lineage in memory”, he said.

After unveiling the repatriated Artefacts, Oba of Benin, who danced joyfully to Benin traditional rendition in dramatic dance steps, with excited Chiefs and members of the Royal family, offered prayers to Almighty God and his ancestors.

The traditional ruler, who was visibly overwhelmed with joy, appreciated the German government and the Federal Government and the NCMM leadership for their efforts.

The royal father, thereafter, in a historic move, sat in one of the royal stools (Ekete), and personally presented a chunk of white, which, according to belief, symbolizes peace and blessings to the Director-General of National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Mr Olugbile Holloway.

Oba Ewuare II also prayed for Mr Holloway and his team, accompanied by the Curator, National Museum, Benin, Mr Mark Olaitan, Director, Legal Services, NCMM, Barrister Babatunde Adebiyi on the visit where Royal Drummers gave a good account of their stewardship.

News

50-year-old Man Dies While Watching Football Match In Lagos Bar

Published

2 hours ago

May 18, 2024

Editor

A yet-to-be-identified man has died allegedly watching football in an open bar along Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway in Lagos.

It was discovered that the deceased, a man in his fifties, was a frequent patron of the open bar prior to the incident and had visited on May 15, 2024, to watch a football game.

But problems arose when it was later found that he was sleeping and that attempts to wake him up were unsuccessful.

The Lagos State Police Spokesperson, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed the incident by saying that on May 15, 2024, at approximately 7:00 PM, the owner of the open bar came to Elere Division to report that the same day, one of his male customers—whose name and address are unknown—died while watching a football game.

In an additional explanation, Hundeyin stated that when detectives from the division visited the scene, they saw the deceased lying lifeless on the chair without any signs of violence.

“His body has been taken to the mainland general hospital in Rusty Yaa for an autopsy,” he continued, “We are still trying to find his family.”

News

JUST IN: Tinubu Appoints Governing Board Members For 111 Tertiary Institutions

Published

11 hours ago

May 18, 2024

Editor

President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointments of at least 555 persons to serve as Pro-chancellors/Chairmen and members of Governing Boards of 111 federal universities, polytechnics and Colleges of Education.

This followed Tinubu’s assent to a list of nominees selected by the Ministry of Education.

An advertorial by the Education Ministry sighted by The PUNCH showed the appointment of a chairperson and four members for each of the institutions.

It was signed by the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack.

“The inauguration and retreat for the Governing Councils will take place on Thursday, May 30 and Friday, May 31, 2024, at the National Universities Commission, 26 Aguiyi Ironsi Street, Maitama, Abuja. Both events will commence at 9:00am daily,” said Walson-Jack.

When contacted for confirmation, the Presidency said the list emanated from the Ministry of Education.

“This is from the Federal Ministry of Education…they make the nominations and forward them to the President to sign. But they are at liberty to release it from their end,” the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, told The PUNCH on Sunday.

The appointments come days after the Academic Staff Union of Universities had threatened to embark on another strike, potentially disrupting the academic calendar and causing further setbacks in the country’s higher education sector.

The union, on Tuesday, decried the failure of the Federal Government to appoint Governing Councils for federal universities.

The union also faulted what it described as the nonchalant attitude of the President Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government to matters about academics in federal universities.

The body of academics, during a briefing at the University of Abuja, also faulted the 35 per cent salary increment for professors and the 25 per cent salary increment for other academics in the university system.