The Rot I Met At LASU — Prof. Obafunwa

Professor John Obafunwa, the Vice-Chancellor of the Lagos State University, LASU, in this interview with KAZEEM UGBODAGA speaks on what he met on ground when he took over the leadership of the institution, the aftermath of the school fees hike reversal, and plans to reposition the institution.

LASU is getting settled after a prolonged protest for tuition fee review. Now that almost all issues have been resolved what is the next line of action?

It is unfortunate that we have had to go through this phase in the history of Lagos State University. We have gone through some turbulence, but I believe it is all for the better. The current interest of parents, the university administration and of course the students themselves will be to make progress with regard to the academic calendar. That is what we are focusing on now. I can tell you we have had series of meeting with the leadership of students’ union. The revised academic calendar is being implemented, though with a little bit of modification.
The students have paid their fees. We have re-opened the portals after making adjustment for the new fee structure. We expect that the normal academic calendar will be pursued with all the vigour it requires. The focus is on the academic calendar, for teachers to do what they ought to do and the students to do what they ought to do. We will have exams at the right time so that we can move to the new academic session. We have done other things too. For instance, we have conducted the post-UTME exams. We have made ready our merit list, which will be processed through JAMB. We are looking forward to normal 2014/2015 academic session.

What actually informed the decision to revert to the old tuition regime?

To start with, it was not completely the decision of the university management. It involved the University Governing Council. It equally involved the Lagos State Government. It is what I can call a joint decision. But it is a welcome decision in a way, depending on who is looking at it or who is commenting on it. There are always good and bad sides to everything. We have reversed the tuition, but do not forget it will not reduce the expenditure of the university. It will still remain the same, if not approaching a kind of upward trend. Whether we like or not, somebody has to take up the bill. The parents or the students will no longer take up the bill, but somebody has to take it up. At this point, I want to say thank you to the Lagos State Government and Lagos State House of Assembly for assisting the Lagos State University. I can only assure our staff and students nothing will happen to all the capital projects on-going in the university.

But the students have a role to play. It is not just a question of reversing to the old tuition regime. It is important for the students to take advantage of the reversal. The students need to pay more attention; be more focussed on their programmes, ensure their lecturers do what they are supposed to do; register for the academic year before the deadline and sit for the exams with due preparation. We anticipate some ripple effects as a result of the reversal. We are going to have a lot of applicants. Of course, we must have necessary infrastructure in place to accommodate more students. If we do not have necessary infrastructure in place, there is nothing we can do. The good side is that, if we have more students choosing the institution, it offers an opportunity to choose the best. If we have more students applying this time, our choices would definitely be restricted. In this instance, we have broader top-class or first-class students to do with. So we are preparing our minds towards those things. We expect parents to assist in educating their students to always maintain high standard.