By Jerry Uwah
Lagos
Students of Lagos State University (LASU) yesterday brought traffic at the busy Ikorodu Road to a standstill as they hit the streets to protest the state government’s alleged refusal to bring down school fees.
Traffic on both sides of the road was at a complete standstill for several minutes as the students took over the expressway.
The president of LASU student Union Mr. Nurudeen Yusuf told newsmen that the street protest was the last line of defence against the state government’s recalcitrant stance on the vexed issue of fees hike.
The students leader said that the state government asked the students’ union to submit to it a proposal on how much fees the students would be able to pay. He said that the proposal was submitted to the state government more than one month ago, but that nothing had been done about it.
The students lamented that the authorities of LASU have given the students a deadline of May 30, 2014 to pay the current rate as school fees, adding that most of the students would not meet the deadline since they would not be able to raise the huge sums.
One of the students who spoke to new men said: “They have taken our money. They have taken our votes. We will not allow them to take education from us”.
The protesting students argued that a medical student in LASU has to pay the sum of N350, 000 seven times to be able to graduate, while a student of mass communication has to pay N250, 000 for four years.
The issue of the hike in tuition fees in LASU has been a running battle between the government of Babatunde Fashola and the students who are backed by human rights activists.
Femi Falana (SAN), a human rights lawyer said at a function early in the week that he had reminded Fashola that the fees in LASU was unacceptable especially when the governor himself benefitted from a highly subsidized university education in a federal university.
Last week the state deputy governor told the students that the state government was studying the proposal for fees reduction submitted by the students, and that it would soon respond to it.
The protesting students however accused the state government of sitting on the proposal.
