Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State has assured students of the new Lagos State University of Science and Technology (LASUST), Ikorodu, of government’s willingness to reduce tuition fees.
Sanwo-Olu gave the assurance on Friday when he stopped at the Ikorodu campus of the university while on his way to the commissioning of the new plant of Kimberly-Clark Factory in Odonguyan area.
Addressing students who came out to welcome him after his helicopter landed at the school of technology car park, the governor said that the government was committed to making the university one of the best universities of choice in Nigeria.
”Great students of Lagos State University of Science and Technology. You are now university students; it is going to work well. We’d continue to do what we’re doing to ensure that you finish well.
”JAMB has put your name (Lagos State University of Science and Technology) as a full university.
”We know you have a small concern about your school fees, we are going to look at it and we are going to bring it down. We are going to be building this university that would be bigger than even LASU very soon,” he said.
It will be recalled that the National Universities Commission (NUC) Executive Secretary, Prof. Abubakar Rasheed, on Feb. 8 in Abuja, handed over certificates for two new Lagos universities – Lagos State University of Education (LASUED) and Lagos State University of Science and Technology (LASUST) to Gov. Sanwo-Olu.
With the issuance of clearance certificates of operation by NUC, Lagos State University of Education is now the 56th state university and 204th University in Nigeria, as well as the second University of Education in Nigeria while Lagos State University of Science and Technology is 57th state university and 205th university in Nigeria.
The two universities are, in addition to the existing Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo, established in 1982 by the first Civilian Governor of Lagos, the late Alhaji Lateef Jakande. Lagos State now has three state-owned universities.
Speaking further at the event, Sanwo-Olu said that the two newly approved state-owned universities would be reference points in academic circle in no distant time.
He said that the operation of the two additional universities would assist in meeting the demands and needs of the teeming youths who are craving for higher education to be future leaders and reference points not only for themselves and families but for the nation.
Sanwo-Olu said converting erstwhile Lagos State Polytechnic to a University of Science and Technology would bring about innovative engineering, science invention and other innovations that are critical to the development of the country and state.
He said that the conversion of Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education and Michael Otedola College of Primary Education into a University of Education was proper and right thing to do, given the demands and the present needs of students.
