House May Close Down Satellite Campuses

Members of the panel set up by the Lagos State House of Assembly to look into the challenges faced by tertiary institutions in Lagos State have threatened to close down satellite campuses of the Lagos State University (LASU), Lagos State Polytechnic (LASPOTECH), Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education (AOCOED) and Michael Otedola College of Primary Education (MOCPED) within the state.

Deputy Speaker of the House, Bola Badmus-Olujobi, who heads the panel gave this threat during the tour of the panel members. According to her, the proliferation of the satellite campuses was responsible for the problems facing tertiary institutions in the state.

Asked about the panel’s finding so far, Hon. Badmus-Olujobi said: “I believe people who are less qualified are teaching in those satellite campuses because it is uncalled for to hide under the pretence of the rising population of people seeking admission into higher institutions.

“We will visit all those campuses and if what we find is not encouraging, we will shut down those campuses and order whoever wants to pursue any of the courses to go to their various main campuses, to stop the decline in the standard of education in the state,” she said.

It was learnt that while LASU has about nine satellite campuses, the Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education has 18 and according to the Acting Vice Chancellor of LASU, Prof. Bamidele Oshinusi, the satellite campuses have become a major problem to the administration of the institution. The Michael College of Primary Education (MOCPED) also operates 11 satellite campuses.

Also, the Provost, Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education, Akeem Ajose and Rector of the State Polytechnic, Ayodeji Babatunde, in their defence said that the satellite campuses have brought education to the doorsteps of the people.

Babatunde maintained that through the annexes, they have gathered enough money which is used to complement the subvention they receive from the  state government .

“The subvention cannot be enough and the institution will die except the government increases the subvention it gives to us annually,” he said.

Meanwhile, members of the Panel of Enquiry have summoned the contractor and engineer in charge of the construction of the Social Science Faculty of LASU over what they described as a shoddy job.

The panel, headed by the Deputy Speaker of the House, Bola Badmus-Olujobi, said it had to invite the contractor to explain why he had used substandard products in an institution desperately trying to resolve various issues including de-accreditation of some courses.

The members of the panel declared that movement into the structure should be stopped till further notice. They also stopped further payment to the contractor pending the time the Ministry of Works would inspect the building.

The Deputy Speaker who was visibly unhappy said: “we don’t want any problem for our students and we are not sure whether the building is safe for habitation. The lives of our students matter to us and until the engineer assures us of its safety, students would not be allowed into the building”.

While inspecting the facilities in LASU, the panel noticed that the Faculty of Law lacks a court, library, text books and staff. It also advised the Faculty to relax its stringent requirement for the promotion to professorial cadre.

One of the members of the panel, Hon. Rasaq Balogun noted that the number of students admitted into the Faculty is outrageous compared to the quota given by the Nigerian Law School.