Public universities are more expensive than private – Lead City Pro-Chancellor
Contrary to popular belief, the fees being paid
in the country’s private universities are still
relatively low, the Pro-Chancellor of Lead City
University, Ibadan, Prof. Jide Owoeye, has
said.
Owoeye, who is also the Chairman of the
university’s Council, told the News Agency of
Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan that the fees being
paid in private institutions were relatively low
compared to their public counterparts which
receive billions of naira in government
subvention.
He said: “The cost per head of student in
University of Ibadan or University of Lagos for
example cannot be less than N700,000 when
you are talking about Arts courses or Basic
Social Sciences courses.
“But when it comes to courses like Medicine,
Engineering, government is spending nothing
less than N1.5million on each of the students,
but the students do not know this because
they are not paying.
“Those students that attend public universities
are not attending for free. Somebody is
paying. It is you and I, the tax payers, that are
paying because that money could have been
spent on something else like electricity, but it
is a function of opportunity cost.’’
According to Owoeye, only very few private
universities in Nigeria charge over one million
naira in fees for certain courses.
“In our own case, the highest fee is about
N500,000; we have fees as low as N100,000
in the Faculty of Arts for courses like
Performing Arts as well as English and
Literary Studies.
“But people don’t know because they don’t
come and find out in the belief that private
universities must be expensive.
“We really must thank JAMB Registrar, Prof.
Dibu Ojerinde, who has made it possible for
people to find out what is happening in
private universities.
“We have state universities which charge
higher fees than ours. But we think quality
can be guaranteed if resources are well
managed and if you have good enrolment.
“Go to Ghana, you pay an average of 6,000
dollars as school fees. Ghana is a third world
country, it is not as developed as Nigeria.
“The universities in Ghana are not as
developed as those in Nigeria.
“The best public university in Ghana is Legon
(University of Ghana, Legon), but it cannot
match our own premier university, University
of Ibadan.
“Yet people run there for reasons I cannot
understand; it may be they don’t have the
information they need,’’ he said. (NAN)
Contrary to popular belief, the fees being paid
in the country’s private universities are still
relatively low, the Pro-Chancellor of Lead City
University, Ibadan, Prof. Jide Owoeye, has
said.
Owoeye, who is also the Chairman of the
university’s Council, told the News Agency of
Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan that the fees being
paid in private institutions were relatively low
compared to their public counterparts which
receive billions of naira in government
subvention.
He said: “The cost per head of student in
University of Ibadan or University of Lagos for
example cannot be less than N700,000 when
you are talking about Arts courses or Basic
Social Sciences courses.
“But when it comes to courses like Medicine,
Engineering, government is spending nothing
less than N1.5million on each of the students,
but the students do not know this because
they are not paying.
“Those students that attend public universities
are not attending for free. Somebody is
paying. It is you and I, the tax payers, that are
paying because that money could have been
spent on something else like electricity, but it
is a function of opportunity cost.’’
According to Owoeye, only very few private
universities in Nigeria charge over one million
naira in fees for certain courses.
“In our own case, the highest fee is about
N500,000; we have fees as low as N100,000
in the Faculty of Arts for courses like
Performing Arts as well as English and
Literary Studies.
“But people don’t know because they don’t
come and find out in the belief that private
universities must be expensive.
“We really must thank JAMB Registrar, Prof.
Dibu Ojerinde, who has made it possible for
people to find out what is happening in
private universities.
“We have state universities which charge
higher fees than ours. But we think quality
can be guaranteed if resources are well
managed and if you have good enrolment.
“Go to Ghana, you pay an average of 6,000
dollars as school fees. Ghana is a third world
country, it is not as developed as Nigeria.
“The universities in Ghana are not as
developed as those in Nigeria.
“The best public university in Ghana is Legon
(University of Ghana, Legon), but it cannot
match our own premier university, University
of Ibadan.
“Yet people run there for reasons I cannot
understand; it may be they don’t have the
information they need,’’ he said. (NAN)
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