EXAMINING THE ISSUE OF FEE HIKES IN NIGERIAN PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES AND POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS

 By Abhulimen Jonathan

 

Education, they say is the best legacy that can ever be offered to an individual. It provides people with the knowledge, mechanism and know-how to function effectively in a society, gaining self actualization and contributing positively to the development of the society at large. As Barack Obama once said, "the best investment a nation can make is in its people, and that starts with providing affordable and accessible education for all". However, realising this vision relies on how much investment is made as regards the Educational sector most especially teriary institutions. This include sufficient funding of operational expenses, provision of adequate physocal infrastructure, maintaining internationally accepted academic standard as well as upholding effective administration of the tertiary institutions. Even though there are quite a number of factors, they all rely on sustainable funding of the institutions. Meanwhile, when this funding becomes insufficient, financial constraints arise, thereby compelling the management of these universities to seek for alternatives of sustaining themselves financially in order to bridge the funding gap.

It is important to note that both the federal government and the university managements play very crucial roles in the funding and administration of universities. As public university education in Nigeria is subsidised by the Nigerian government, they bear the responsibility of ensuring that these public tertiary institutions are heavily invested in, adequately funded and supported, all committed offering qualitative, affordable and accessible education to young Nigerians who have a burning desire to pursue higher education.

Meanwhile, at the face of the economic state of the country, public universities in Nigeria have been underfunded. This has geared lecturer unions (ASUU) at these universities to lodge several complains alongside other demands, regarding the level of funding and attention given to public university education by the government. This therefore, exposed the implausible side of the subsidy and in the light of their discontent, they resorted into embarking on industrial actions in protest against the government to demand for increased funding to boost their research capabilities, provide better learning resources for the students and improve on their infrastructures.

The government in their defence have lamented the unavailability of fund to invest in public universities in the country. Nigeria's immediate ex president, Muhammadu Buhari while presenting the 2023 Budget said that the government can no longer bear the burden of funding public universities alone. The Permanent Secretary in the ministry of Education, Andrew David Adejo corroborates Buhari's submission while clarifying the Students Loan Bill signed into law by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. He said that "Whether we like it or not, the government can no longer foot the bill for universities".

In the face of this reality, Nigerians have now seen several public university managements review their fee structures and make significant increases to their school fees. This has become a prevalent issue that has sparked a wave of negative responses and actions from Nigerians, most especially students who are at the receiving end of such decisions. With many apportioning blames on both entities - the government and the university managements - for the recent surge in school fees. Resolving this issue will require implementation of sustainable and holistic solutions.

 

WHAT THEN IS THE SOLUTION?

 

The only viable solution to this fundamental issue remains increased government funding and support for the tertiary educational system. Some may question the practicability of this approach, citing remarks by the previous Buhari-led government who stated that they could no longer inject more funds into the tertiary education system, but that shouldn't warrant for any form of skepticism. Currently, Nigeria falls extremely short of global standards of educational funding and isn't alloting adequate resources as it should to the educational system. Only 8.2% of our annual national budget is alloted to education. Concerned Nigerians are hopeful on the government to raise the figures to the globally recommended standard of 15-20%.

 

The Tinubu administration who have been at the helm of our national affairs for over a month now greeted us with the shocker of a fuel subsidy removal and enlightened us on how it amounted to profligacy, considering the fact that these financial resources could be dedicated to revitalising other sectors within our social sphere. Of course, Nigeria spent over 4.4 Trillion naira on subsidising petroleum products in 2022 and the figures were expected to increase further the following year. Our educational and health sector are in dire need of critical attention and the Tinubu administration have the opportunity of making a difference and changing the present narrative by dedicating a portion of these funds towards developing these sectors from their impoverished and egregious state.

 

This is the opportunity to do the right thing. This is the opportunity to make education not only qualitative, but affordable and accessible to all. This is the opportunity to safeguard the stability of our universities. This is the opportunity to alleviate the financial burden off the student's shoulder. This is the opportunity to undertake a overhaul our educational system and for us to strive to meet international standards. Given the available resources at the government's disposal, no valid excuse can be given by the government on why it cannot prioritise education because there is ample room to take necessary action and bring about a positive change.