The Union President, Mr Nurudeen Yusuf, in a news conference urged the government to give details of the reduction in terms of Naira and Kobo, as it did during the increment.
“We do not accept the percentage reduction of the government because in 2011, when the fee was increased, it was not done on percentage level but in Naira and Kobo.
“How do they expect our parents; the market women scrambling to pay our fees, to calculate the percentage,” he said.
Yusuf said the report of the Ad- Hoc Committee on the LASU fee review and the pronouncements of the state government do not favour the students.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Lagos State Government had on Wednesday announced a reduction of 34 to 60 per cent on the LASU tuition fees.
The reduction, followed several protests by the students and civil society groups.
The government had in 2011, increased the fee from N25, 000 to N193, 000 for Arts and Education courses and N350, 000 for medical students.
Gov. Babatunde Fashola met with the student union officials on April 3 and requested that the union should propose how much they can afford to pay, as a total reversal was impossible.
The Union submitted a proposal of N46,500 for returning students and N65,500 for fresh students, as the proposed new tuition fee. Yusuf disclosed that the union would only accept the percentage reduction, if it is at 67 per cent across board.
“We recognize the fact that the governing council is empowered by the law establishing LASU to consider the school fee,” he said. The union leader noted that the sincerity of the government on the matter was questionable, alleging that it selectively adopted the report of a visitation panel it had set up.
“We demand that the government reduce the fees on compassionate grounds,” he said. According to Yusuf, the government was only toying with the future and destiny of the state.
The LASUSU president demanded a public apology from the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, and the state government, over the “arrest, detention and brutalization” of some students during their protest to Alausa, Ikeja on June 3. (NAN)
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