LASU Crises: Lagos State Assembly Intervenes
LASU Crises (School Fees Increase, Strike actions, etc): Lagos State Assembly Intervenes to put an end to them.
Lagos Assembly has resolved to put to rest all the challenges facing the Lagos State University, LASU, following the increase in the institution’s fees which has posed serious problems to students and parents.
Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Adeyemi Ikuforiji disclosed this during a courtesy visit by members of the executive of LASU Alumni Association, who are seeking for prompt intervention of the House in the crises rocking the university.
Ikuforiji expressed happiness over the recent rating of the Law Faculty of the 30-year-old institution as the best in Africa and 14th in the world. He said he was impressed with the way the Alumni executive took it upon themselves to find lasting solutions to problems of the institution.
According to him, “One of the attempts made by the House to sustain the institution was how the Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC) was convinced by the House not to de-accredit some courses in the institution including law.
“We had to send a delegation led by the current Deputy Speaker of the House, Rt. (Hon.) Musibau Kolawole, to NUC office in Abuja, when they de-accredited eight courses in the institution, and even promised to go back there in two weeks to de-accredit more courses.
“Our intervention worked as the NUC Secretary was impressed with our intervention. We later approved a sum of N3 billion for development purposes in the school,” he said.
The Speaker, however,, added that a visitation panel set up by the Governor later recommended increase in the fees being paid by the students of the school, which he said has also led to many crises in the generation university.
Earlier in his speech, the Chairman of the Governing Board of LASU Alumni Association, who led the delegation to the House, Mr. Fatai Sonoiki, intimated the House of how they have been intervening in the issues affecting the school including convincing various labour unions in the school not to go on strike.
He further said that the association decided to come to the House of Assembly to prevent another round of strike action by unions in the school such as Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities (NASU), and Senior Staff Association of Universities (SSANU).
“The incessant strike actions in LASU are affecting the image of the school. We want the authorities to do something about the impending strike actions by the labour unions in the school. The House can call a meeting of LASU Governing Council, led by the Pro-Chancellor, university authority, led by the Vice-Chancellor and the unions in the university. The alumni association too can be invited to the meeting. The goal is to find a lasting solution to the instability in the school,” he said. (VanguardNGR)
