Akeredolu’s school fees conundrum

AGAIN Ondo State is in the news for the wrong reasons! Not long ago, the Oluwarotimi Akeredolu administration got itself enmeshed in controversy that it had abolished “free education;” as the bad news spread like wild fire in the harmattan, the government, mercifully, reacted quickly to douse it and relative calm was restored – but the harm had been done. The people had become suspicious of the intentions of the new administration and were going to henceforth watch it from the corners of their eyes.

That opportunity came as students of the state-owned Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba took to the street to protest an astronomical increase in tuition fees by the university authorities. Since the school is state-owned, it lends itself no argument that the buck stops on Akeredolu’s desk. Let me shoot straight from the hips by saying that a 500 per cent increase in any fees is too steep to be defended. The same argument that the AAUA authorities advance to justify the astronomical increase (the government is cash-strapped and can no longer solely bear the burden) also justifies the rejection of the sharp increase (parents, too, are cash-strapped and cannot reasonably be expected to cough out the huge sums being demanded). Who does not know that the twin evil of inflation and devaluation have combined to reduce the value of the Naira by over 50 per cent and that salaries and pensions are no longer regular all over the country?  Unemployment is on the rise; workers keep losing jobs as factories close shop; the self-employed groan from lack of what to do; and competitive loans are not available even if you have brilliant business ideas. The prevailing malevolent economic environment simply does not warrant, and cannot sustain, so prohibitive a rise in school fees – but that is just one side of the coin. Before we examine the other side, however, permit me to fire some posers on other sensitive national issues.

How did you see the increasing scale of Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) policemen themselves becoming the robbers and extortionists’ people all over the country now have to contend with? Having become destructive of the very end for which it was established, must we not now apply the recommendation of the framers of the American constitution by abolishing SARS? Rape, sexual assault and immorality, and the activities of randy lecturers are on the increase. I propose that rapists and randy lecturers be castrated – the tool of their obnoxious trade must be taken from them. We must begin to look at how such crimes impact negatively on society, arrest development, and mortgage our collective future. Like federal character, sex-for-marks subverts the merit system as the unqualified gets promoted at the expense of more deserving students. I once read a post detailing the havoc such illicit favour visits on society when unqualified doctors man our hospitals or unqualified engineers build our bridges or skyscrapers.

Oh my! I wept when Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue state told his people to defend themselves against murderous Fulani herdsmen “even with stones.” My goodness! That is the limit of frustration and desperation. That is giving up on the Nigerian state and its so-called security apparatus. It cannot get worse than that. That is saying “there is no Federal Government out there;” it is saying, “help is coming from nowhere.” Oh my! Again and again, the Buhari administration has let Ortom and his people down miserably; Gen. TY Danjuma’s allegations of the military authorities’ complicity and collusion bordering on ethnic cleansing bears repeating here. What of the unhelpful rationalisations by the Minister of Defence, the Inspector-General of Police, and the president himself, the latest and most embarrassing being in London last week when Buhari blamed Mouammar Gaddaffi, dead seven years, for the bestial killings? Reading that the Buhari administration confirmed receiving US$322 million Abacha loot from the Swiss government, I felt a sense of relief that Buhari, Abacha’s PTF chairman, who once defended the vile dictator, now has nowhere to hide his face that his ex-boss truly and mindlessly looted the Treasury!

And talking about corruption, Senator Shehu Sani’s characterisation of Buhari’s so-called anti-graft fight remains evergreen; I mean the deodorant and insecticide metaphor. This APC senator and nemesis of Governor Nasir el-Rufai adroitly applies sarcasm. Remember his hyena and lion characterisation of the cabals that have rendered Buhari impotent? Nigerians were amused when he took snake charmers to the JAMB headquarters to help charm the snake that reportedly swallowed JAMB’s N36million. It was a minus, though, that when monkey game was reportedly played on N70m APC senators’ money in custody of their caucus leader, Sani joined his colleagues to sweep the malfeasance under the carpet, treating it like PDP and the Goodluck Jonathan-era “family affair.” Sani, however, found his voice again when Buhari declared his second term bid last week. Waxing lyrical, he said Buhari chose not to be Mandela. Simple as that statement seems, it has deep meaning, which I hope is not lost on Buhari. “Not a Mandela” means not as honourable as Mandela; and not as selfless and patriotic. Mandela was not enamoured of power but yielded his space for a younger person; that is generational shift. He respected his age; retired gracefully and sat back to help create a succession that stabilised his country. Not divisive, Mandela helped bring blacks, whites, coloured and all shades of opinions together for the good of his country. He had the constitutional right to second term but waived it. His people genuinely craved for him to continue but he politely declined. He knew when to quit – when the ovation was loudest – and allowed no cabal cajole him to soldier on. Mandela was a statesman; father figure; national and international icon who had dignity and lived a dignified life. He died truly mourned and greatly missed. He left indelible marks in the sands of time. Not being a Mandela means not being all of these. Thank you, Shehu Sani, for saying it as it is!

• Chibok girls will never be forgotten ―Buhari

Back to Ondo State; Yemi Olowolabi, Ondo State Commissioner for Information, professionally made a case for the government. It could not have been better done. In summary, the current tuition regime at AAUA, which is between N23, 000 and N37,000, had been in place since the institution’s founding in 2000. Now, paucity of funds as a result of dwindling resources and other areas crying for attention necessitate a review. No sensible person can fault that. To prevent a collapse of AAUA, other sources of funding must be found, including increase in fees. I agree; otherwise, public tertiary education will not only remain comatose, unable to discharge its obligations, it will eventually die a natural death and everyone will be left no choice than be at the mercy of Shylock private universities and educational tourism, which costs the country billions of Naira yearly at the moment, will get worse. This is not an option that even the protesting AAUA students and their parents can afford. If you think this is not possible, ask parents with wards in private nursery, primary, and secondary schools what they suffer at the moment. Ondo has two other universities where students pay something reasonable, compared to AAUA; students of the Ondo State University of Technology, Okitipupa pay between N120,000 and N150,000 while those at the University of Medical Sciences, Ondo pay between N200,000 and N450,000. The hiked fees at AAUA also aim at achieving parity with the above stated fees.

We have stated earlier that the percentage of increase at AAUA is outrageous. The yawning gap between AAUA and its sister-universities cannot be bridged in one fell swoop but must be done incrementally over a period of time. Olusegun Agagu and Olusegun Mimiko who left AAUA fees to stagnate for such a long period must carry the blame for the present unsavoury situation. They are also to blame for over-burdening the state with tertiary institutions it has no resources to cope with. Agagu founded the University of Science and Technology for political reasons and for selfish aggrandisement; ditto Mimiko with the University of Medical Sciences.  Both ex-governors sited the schools in their respective constituency to garner support. Ondo State can ill-afford four tertiary institutions, when we add the Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo; and AAUA. Mimiko, who initially opposed Agagu’s Science and Technology headache, not only made a volte-face but, like Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, turned headache into migraine with the additional University of Medical Sciences. It will amount to asking Akeredolu, a first-term governor, to commit political suicide if he is asked to rationalise the institutions right away – but that is the right course for the people of Ondo State to tread at the right time.

Three critical stakeholders must team up with Akeredolu to find lasting solution to the lingering problem. The first is the ruling party in the state, APC, which, unfortunately, has chosen to play the blame game and run from responsibility. It will not be allowed to behave so recklessly and irresponsibly in that it presented Akeredolu to the Ondo electorate. So, they must solve the problem together or Ondo voters will punish them together in future elections. The State House of Assembly whose own election falls due next year is, understandably, distancing itself from Akeredolu over this matter. It is shameful that rather than provide leadership, the House is jumping ship and playing to the gallery. We will hold its feet to the fire! It is the second arm of government and has oversight functions on the executive. If it has been treated with levity, it is because, before now, it had cheapened itself and had become a rubber-stamp Legislature. Like biblical Esau, “at’enu je” must have robbed the legislators of their birthright. Let them turn a new leaf and exert themselves. But that does not come cheap. It comes with dignity and integrity. Of a truth, you cannot have your cake and eat it. The students’ national body must act maturely on this issue. It is not always that we support “aluta” willy-nilly; we must dispassionately interrogate the issues involved to come up with informed decisions that provide solution rather than muddle up issues. Asking AAUA to retain the fees in dispute, and proceeding there from to demand that fees paid at the two other sister-universities be reduced to the AAUA ridiculous level, beggars belief. Not only are we not willing to extricate AAUA from its cesspit, we are also dragging the other two institutions into the miry clay.

I propose as follows: The 500 per cent increase in fees at AAUA should be reduced to just 50 per cent. Future increases should be done incrementally. New students resuming at AAUA should have a new school-fees template slightly higher than that of old students, which should be advertised before admission processes and to be paid before matriculation. Government should rationalise its heavy load of four tertiary institutions. What is worth doing at all is worth doing well. Ultimately, a scheme which will guarantee indigent students’ access to interest-free loans repayable after graduation is urgently needed in our tertiary institutions.