NANS to meet FG over private varsity fees

The National Association of Nigerian Students has said it will meet with the Federal Government later in the week over the high cost of enrolment in private universities.

The Federal Executive Council, on Wednesday, had approved the establishment on nine new private universities, including Augustine University, Ilara, Lagos State; Chrisland University, Owode, Ogun State; and Christopher University, Mowe, Ogun State.

Others were Hallmark University, Ijebu Itele, Ogun State; Kings University, Ode Omu, Osun State; Michael and Cecilia Ibru University, Orode, Delta State; Mountain Top University, Ogun State; Ritman University, Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State; and Summit University, Ofa, Kwara State.

Speaking with SUNDAY PUNCH in a telephone interview, the NANS President, Mr. Tijani Usman, commended the Federal Government for approving the institutions.

He said, "It is a good thing. We talked about it recently. We had discussed with the President even before now. We need to have better, qualitative education. We need to have more institutions of higher learning. The private institutions have been on our necks so we put pressure on the Federal Government to give them the same approval. We are happy that they have approved them.

"More Nigerian students will now begin to look to private universities with the hope that the fees will be as modest as they can afford.

"I have discussed with the Minister (of Education) on this note and I will be meeting with him by Monday or Tuesday on the same issue to finalise the matter."

Usman expressed disapproval that there were more people who applied for the Joint Admissions Matriculation Board exams than could be admitted into tertiary institutions.

According to him, a continuation of the trend will lead to the education system taking advantage of many more students.

"A lot of people have been applying for JAMB. The exam costs each candidate about N5,000. If people will apply for JAMB yearly and we do not have universities that can accommodate them, then it will amount to JAMB exploiting the students.

"If one million people apply for JAMB, at the end of the day, maybe just 50,000 will be accommodated in the system. We then find that the number of students that are out of school continues to climb gradually, leading to other problems," the NANS president said.