Immediate-past Vice-Chancellor of Lagos State University (LASU), Prof. Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, has clarified her widely circulated remarks suggesting that students in public universities may need to pay about ₦1 million annually, saying the figure was intended to reflect the estimated cost of providing quality undergraduate education and not necessarily the amount students or their parents must bear.
Her media aide, Emmanuel Adeyemi, gave the clarification in a statement following widespread reactions to an interview Olatunji-Bello granted The PUNCH shortly after completing her five-year tenure as LASU Vice-Chancellor.
The former vice-chancellor had discussed the financial pressures facing public universities, including LASU’s monthly payroll of more than ₦1 billion and the institution’s internally generated revenue, which she said had risen from about ₦3 billion when she assumed office in 2021 to ₦13 billion during her tenure.
According to Adeyemi, Olatunji-Bello’s central argument was that the quality of university education Nigerians expect cannot be delivered without adequate funding, with the estimated annual cost of undergraduate education put at about ₦1 million per student.
He said the former VC did not argue that the entire amount should automatically be transferred to students or their parents.
Rather, he said, her remarks emphasised the need for universities to develop innovative and diversified sources of revenue as they pursue financial sustainability.
Adeyemi pointed to Olatunji-Bello’s statement during the interview that universities could achieve financial self-sustainability if they innovated and improved their institutions in ways that attracted additional revenue.
He also quoted her as urging parents to prioritise their children’s education and recognise that quality education requires substantial resources.
The clarification comes after headlines and social media posts based on the interview were widely interpreted as a direct call for public university students to pay ₦1 million annually.
The PUNCH subsequently reported the clarification from Adeyemi, who said the former VC’s remarks had been taken out of context.
The controversy has nevertheless reopened the wider debate over how Nigerian public universities should be funded, particularly as institutions face rising personnel, electricity, infrastructure and academic costs.
During the interview, Olatunji-Bello had argued that LASU’s increased internally generated revenue was still insufficient to cover its growing financial obligations, highlighting the gap between institutional revenue and the cost of running a modern university.
Adeyemi urged the public, media organisations and education stakeholders to consider Olatunji-Bello’s complete remarks when discussing the issue, rather than relying on isolated portions of the interview.
He said the former VC’s position was ultimately a call for shared responsibility: universities should pursue innovation and diversified funding, while government, institutions, students, parents and other stakeholders recognise the financial requirements of delivering quality higher education.
