Some students of alleged illegal universities in Lagos broke down in tears recently, when the National Universities Commission (NUC) committee on closure of illegal universities stormed their study centers and shut them down for operating without the Federal Government’s approval. The closure ended their dream of acquiring university education after investing so much.
The NUC committee led by the chairman, Professor Ebenezer Adebowale, Legal Adviser, Mr. Moses Awe and a member, Mr. Lawrence Oguguwa stormed some of the illegal universities while the students were either receiving lectures or preparing for their examinations. In the state of confusion that ensued, the proprietors and lecturers abandoned them to their fate and disappeared into the air.
The first port of call for the committee was Topmost International Comprehensive Secondary School, Maryland, Lagos where two illegal university study centres (Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State and Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso) were said to be operating from, with over 1,000 students offering MBA and degree programmes. Unqualified lecturers were reported to be teaching the students.
Professor Adebowale demanded from the Coordinator of the Centre, Mr. Bolaji Taiwo, the approval from NUC to operate the study centre. But when Taiwo produced a letter dated August 2006 and addressed to the Vice Chancellor, it was discovered by the commission that it was meant for the Ogbomoso main campus of the institution. Right away, Adebowale informed him and students studying at the place that the centre is illegal and has been closed down.
“Some people are making money out of you,” Adebowale told the bewildered students. “Any certificate that you are issued here will not worth it, will not be accepted.”
In a swift reaction to the closure, some of the students, particularly the 300 and 400-Level students bemoaned their losses while ladies among them were close to tears as they revealed that it cost them between N60,000 and N80,000 tuition fee per session to read in the place and bombarded Professor Adebowale with questions on what becomes of their fate.
At Itire Primary School, Ijesha, Lagos, the committee discovered a foreign institution, University of Education, Winneba, Ghana operating an illegal study cenre together with University of Ibadan (UI) and Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife. They were all offering degrees and MBA programmes with over 800 students receiving lectures at the centres. Most of the students were either in 100 and 200 levels. When the committee demanded for the certificate of approval, the students directed them to the Head Office of the operator at Ojuelegba.
“The University of Education, Winneba, Ghana is not known to the NUC. We will close it until you show us the NUC approval. As long as you are going to work with the certificate, it will not be possible to work using the certificate that you obtained here,” Professor Adebowale informed the students who surrounded him. “Why did the owner and lecturers run when they saw us?”, he queried. “If they have any approval let them produce it.”
At this point some of the students could not hold back tears and wept profusely with one of them, a 200-level Management Science student, asking what becomes of his investment amounting to over N250,000. Another student, Ben Obi, a trader informed the committee that the operator told them that the study centre was approved and having spent over N160,000, he wondered what the future holds for the students after the closure. A 100-level female student said she paid about N68,000 aside other sundry expenses and revealed that they were taken to Ghana for the matriculation ceremony.
At Charles Lorie French Academy, FESTAC, Lagos, a drama played out when the Coordinator, Ibrahim Baba attempted to deceive the committee by showing them a poster bearing the name of an institute, (Institute of Security Management Operations) which indicate they run security management courses. But Adebowale and his members insisted on seeing things for themselves, they discovered that they were running ABU and OAU programmes including MBAs there.
The committee met about four lectures in progress and discovered that the lecturers particularly the one taking the MBA class was not qualified to teach such a class as he has only Masters. Another lecturer abandoned his MBA class when he got wind of the presence of the committee. When the Legal Adviser of the committee announced the closure of the study centre, the students lamented their plight in the light of the huge sums they had spent so far pursuing degree and post-graduate degree programmes at the centres. Some of the ladies screamed and wept.
It was complaint galore as the students revealed that they paid N200,000 for the MBA programme and claimed ignorance of the status of the place. A female banker who read History and enrolled for MBA told Daily Sun that she paid over N180,000 and needed the certificate to safeguard her job while some of the married ones wondered how they would relate the situation to their husbands at home.
But what appears to be the biggest discovery by the NUC committee was made at Chartered Institute of Administration, Ojo where the staff told the committee that they only prepare students for ICAN and professional programmes but an eagle-eyed member of the committee spotted students results sheet pasted on the wall and bearing Evan Enwerem University, Owerri, Imo State. A search later led to further discovery that showed they were indeed making false claims.
Soon after the discovery, the operator abandoned the students who besieged the committee while some of the lecturers that were caught teaching claimed ignorance of the status and could not provide cogent answers to many questions asked. A 300-level Management Studies student told Daily Sun that he and his colleagues paid N80,000 per session and that the payment was made into IMSU Global Account with an old generation bank. A lecturer with a Masters degree who was caught teaching Public Administration to MBA students was told in the presence of his students that he is not qualified to lecture them.
But the moment the chairman of the committee, Adebowale announced the closure of the place, many of the students attempted to question his powers while others lamented the waste of resources and energy in acquiring a university degree. A female student reminded the committee that many students had graduated from the institute while others (100-level students) who paid huge amount wondered how they would recover their money as they were ordered to leave the place or get arrested.
In his response, Adebowale, who is also the Pro-Chancellor of Bowen University, Iwo, Osun State advised students to crosscheck from the commission’s website before applying for admissions into any university and stressed that most of the VCs are not aware that people are using names of their universities to run study centres outside the main campuses.
Some of the students who wanted to know from the committee what they could do in the light of huge expenses they had gone into in a bid to acquire university education were told to hold the operators responsible for their plight. However, they were offered the option of either enrolling with the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), University of Lagos Distance learning programme or having the proprietors of the centres arrange for them to go to the main campuses to continue with their studies if they are truly genuine.
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