LASU Authorities Must Act Now

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The authorities of the Lagos State University, LASU, must act fast to salvage the image of the institution which is being dragged in the mud by some unscrupulous elements running the campuses of the university.

For too long we have been inundated with complaints by students in the campuses of this state owned university, especially those of Anthony Village and Agege, that the campuses are not living up to the expectations of the students and their parents. The issue is that several years after they graduated, some of the students have not been able to lay hands on their degree certificates. Last week students of the Anthony Village campus disrupted their semester examinations because, according to them, the results of the last semester examinations have not been released.

It is difficult to believe that some students of these campuses who graduated since 2001 have not got their certificates. How do the authorities of the institution expect such graduating students to make any progress in life when they cannot get their certificates? Some of the students complained that their scripts are usually misplaced by their lecturers and this takes long  to sort out. Sometimes, in the end, nothing comes out of it and the students are left in the lurch. This is the  fate of many students who cannot graduate due to no fault of theirs. Others have their certificates withheld because they failed to pay their fees.

However, at the root of these problems are the sharp practices some lecturers engage in. We have heard of cases where lecturers harassed female students sexually or extorted money from male students in order to pass them in examinations. Those who refuse to dance to the tune of the lecturers usually fail their examinations and end up being frustrated out of school. These sordid happenings reduce university campuses to glorified secondary schools where anything goes. Products of a system that promotes mediocrity cannot measure up to their peers in any field of human endeavour.

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The authorities of LASU should investigate the complaints of the students and those who have already graduated to put an end to a corrupt system that has stymied their educational advancement. The state government and the governing council of the institution must sanitise the campuses of the university and raise the standard there. If this cannot be done, then the campuses should be scrapped because they have become synonymous with corruption and ineptitude. A system that is completely a mockery of the ideals of ivory towers should not be allowed to persist.

It was to stop these problems, including the issue of poor standard of facilities in satellite campuses of various universities across the country that the Federal Ministry of Education abolished all of them some years ago. LASU campuses were created to offer opportunity to  people, who could not be admitted  into the university due to various reasons,  to pursue their degree aspirations on part time basis.

If the univerity’s authorities cannot effectively monitor or supervise the campuses to meet the yearnings of this teeming Lagosians, then they have lost their relevance and should be scrapped. The campuses cannot continue to mortgage the future of our youths while collecting outrageous fees from the hapless students.

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