IBBU Fee increase; VC promises downward review.
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Yahaya Zakka, Minna Bureau Chief
The Vice Chancellor of Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai, Prof. Adamu Abubakar Kazeem has said the Governing Council and the Senate will work out modalities for a reduced school fees that will serve all parties.
He then directed that students should not start paying the new school fees until the downward review has been effected.
He said they were all concerned with the educational needs of Nigerian children and will review the fees downward.
He however said the institution received about N189 million monthly to pay salaries and embark on capital projects from the state and local governments, which he complained was grossly inadequate to run an institution of university’s status.
The Chancellor stated this when he appeared before members of the House of Assembly Committee on Education who summoned him over the hike in fees to be paid by both new and returning students.
He said the university was facing serious financial challenges and the situation has posed serious threat in running the institution, explaining that the hike in the fees was an emergency measure to save the school from collapsing.
Prof Abubakar told members of the committee that the university’s funding came from three sources; the state government which takes care of the personnel cost, the contributions from local governments and grants from the federal government.
He disclosed that the university has 16,000 students and whose school fees would not be able to take care of the many academic requirements befitting of a degree awarding institution. He explained that the state government pays the salaries of staff to the tune of N127m and the remaining N62.5 million collected from the local governments was dedicated to the provisions of infrastructure.
He said running a university requires a lot of resources and to avert the complete shut down of the university, the management proposed an increase in school fees to augment other sources of income.
Prof. Abubakar however said that with the intervention by the state house of assembly and other relevant stakeholders, the management will go back and look at modalities that will strike balance between keeping the school open and the need to consider economic conditions of parents.
When asked how soon the downward review will be effected, Prof. Abubakar said “the management will sit and review the fees then report to the Governing Council and who will take it to the visitor, who’s the governor of the state, to effect any change.” However, members of the legislative committee insisted that the university must still furnish the house with details of all their incomes, including audited accounts.
The chairman of the committee, Hon. Rabiu Gambo said the information became necessary to enable the house appreciate the inflow and outflow of funds and intervention if there was any.
He thanked the team for being sensitive to the cry of the people and urged them to keep to their words.
