The Coalition of Chairmen and Executives of Lagos State Model Colleges Parents’ Forum has rejected a proposal by the Lagos State Government increasing students’ feeding fee from N25,000 to N50,000.

The coalition described the plea by the Lagos State Ministry of Education that parents should accept N50,000 per term as feeding fee was insensitive and insincere.

In a statement by its chairman, Dapo Dawodu, the coalition said it later accepted N30,000 fee “as stated in letters sent to the state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, State House of Assembly and the Commissioner for Education, Folashade Adefisayo.

The statement maintained that the present N25,000 being paid by each student was being mismanaged.

The statement read in part: “The minimum wage is N30,000 and you expect a parent with three children at a model college to pay a total of N150, 000 plus other personal expenses.

“The coalition has presented parents unanimous decision of an upward review to N30, 000 which is inclusive of hostel requirements and ancillaries per student,” the statement said.

The coalition, therefore, requested that parents who are professionals should be included in kitchen management in the school kitchen affairs.

The coalition, also, demanded the inclusion of parent body in the administration of the fees paid by students for accountability.

The parents urged the state government to audit called the account of all model colleges in Lagos State.

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has urged the Federal Government to bar state governments proposing to establish new universities from accessing Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETfund) for a minimum of 10 years.

The union added that owners of proposed universities whether Federal or State should provide verifiable growth plan for providing not less than 75 percent of their pensionable staff complement plus provision of requisite infrastructural facilities.

ASUU hinge its demand on the precarious state of state-owned universities in Nigeria.

National President of ASUU Prof Victor Osodeke told reporters in Ilorin, Kwara State capital at the end of the union’s national executive council meeting.

Prof Osodeke expressed his dismay on the declining fortune of state-owned universities and their neglect by state governors “whose responsibility it is to fund, staff, equip and make the universities nationally and globally competitive.

“Unless urgent and necessary steps are taken, our state-owned universities may soon collapse beyond redemption.”

Continuing, Prof Osodeke said “politicians in the Fourth Republic have turned establishment of state universities into projects for appeasing electorate in their senatorial and state constituencies. While neglecting the existing state universities, some overzealous state governors have increased the rally to two or three.

“The more bizarre cases were governors who brazenly pronounced the creation of three or four state universities in one fell swoop. Nigerians should be worried that state universities, which should serve as an elixir to provision of university education, has turned an albatross for the Nigerian university system.

“Beside non-funding of capital projects, most state governors have also failed in the primary responsibility of regular payment of staff in their universities. Our recent analysis has shown that only five of the state-owned universities have their monthly subventions corresponding with their monthly wage bills. 17 state universities receive monthly subventions far below the monthly wage bills, thereby forcing these institutions to augment salaries from so-called internally generated revenue (IGR).”

ASUU chief rejected charging of exorbitant tuition fees in state universities, saying “it places university education beyond the reach of common Nigerians.

“It is corrupt to assume that public universities should generate revenues from charges for provision of hostel accommodation, health services, sport facilities, students identity cards or library access.”

The union conceded that Nigeria needs more universities, but added that the establishment of universities should be predicated on sound logic.

Prof Osodeke used the avenue to remind the Federal Government on the “outstanding issues in the memorandum of action (MOA) of December 23, 2020 and the issues related to the draft renegotiated agreement of May 2021.

“ASUU hopes authorities at both Federal and state government levels would give these matters the urgent attention they deserve to sustain and improve on the current industrial peace on our university campuses.

“By the end of August if the government does not implement the agreement reached with ASUU, Nigerians should hold government responsible for whatever happens at the end of the day.”