A heated debate has once again taken over Nigerian social media, particularly Facebook, as users clash over tuition fees charged by faith-based universities compared to those owned by private individuals. At the centre of the controversy are familiar names Wigwe University, Covenant University, and Landmark University and an argument that appears less about affordability and more about sentiment, entitlement, and selective outrage.
Wigwe University, a privately owned institution, reportedly charges between ₦9.6 million and ₦12 million per session for tuition alone, with accommodation and other services paid separately. Despite the steep cost, public reaction has been largely muted. There have been no sustained calls for moral reflection, no debates about conscience, and no demands for justification beyond the usual acknowledgment that it is an elite, premium institution targeting a specific market.
In sharp contrast, Covenant University, which is owned by a Christian organisation, has found itself at the centre of intense criticism for charging between ₦1.7 million and ₦2 million per session. Notably, this fee is all-inclusive, covering tuition, accommodation, medical services, security, electricity, water, and campus facilities. Yet, for many online commentators, the issue is not the total value offered, but the fact that the institution is church-owned.
Landmark University, also within the same faith ecosystem, charges even less between ₦650,000 and ₦800,000 per session, likewise all-inclusive. The structure, discipline, and academic model are similar, but its fees rarely generate the same level of outrage. This inconsistency has raised questions about whether the debate is truly about access to education or about preconceived expectations placed on religious institutions.
A recurring argument on social media is that because a university is owned by a church, it should operate at minimal cost or even at a loss. Some users go as far as implying that church members’ tithes should translate into subsidised education for the public. This assumption, however, exposes a fundamental misunderstanding of both institutional finance and the purpose of religious giving.
Education finance experts note that tithe is a form of worship, not an investment scheme or a discount voucher. Universities regardless of ownership require enormous and recurring expenditure: staff salaries, research funding, laboratories, accreditation costs, power generation, security, infrastructure maintenance, and compliance with regulatory standards. These costs do not disappear because the owner is a religious body.
The contradiction becomes clearer when compared with attitudes toward wealthy individuals who establish private universities. When such institutions charge ₦10 million or more per session, they are often described as “world-class” or “elite.” The high fees are framed as the price of excellence. Yet when a faith-based institution charges a fraction of that amount, it is quickly labelled exploitative or immoral.
This selective outrage points to a deeper hypocrisy within public discourse. It suggests that the problem is not high fees per se, but discomfort with religious organisations operating efficiently and competitively within the same market as secular private universities. In effect, some critics appear to demand that excellence should bow to sentiment when faith is involved.
Advocates of affordable education argue correctly that access remains a serious challenge for many Nigerian families. However, analysts caution that affordability debates should be honest and consistent. Weaponizing religious giving to mask entitlement weakens the conversation and distracts from broader structural issues such as underfunded public universities and poor student loan penetration.
Globally, excellence in higher education is expensive. From the United States to the United Kingdom and parts of Asia, private universities, religious or otherwise, charge fees that reflect the cost of delivering quality education. Nigeria is not an exception to this reality, even if local income levels make the issue more sensitive.
The real question, observers argue, should not be whether faith-based universities charge fees, but whether they deliver value, transparency, and quality for what they charge. On these metrics, institutions like Covenant and Landmark have consistently ranked among Nigeria’s top universities, producing graduates competitive both locally and internationally.
As the social media debate rages on, one fact remains difficult to dispute: ownership does not erase cost. Church-owned does not mean charity school, just as private ownership does not automatically justify extreme pricing. Until Nigeria is ready to confront the true cost of excellence honestly, arguments driven by emotion rather than evidence will continue to dominate the conversation.
In the end, facts do not bend to sentiment. Nigerians may debate affordability and rightly so but reducing complex education financing issues to tithe-based entitlement only deepens division and obscures the real challenges facing the nation’s higher education system.
