By Eddy Ovhigbo, Abuja

More than 300 private schools in Borno risk being shut for failure to participate in government’s mandatory accreditation.

Commissioner for Education, Engr. Lawan Wakilbe, told newsmen in Maiduguri on Wednesday, that the exercise became necessary to contain the proliferation and unwholesome activities of some private schools.

He said it was of concern that since the exercise began in 2022 only 266 private schools had complied, out of about 600 of them.

Wakilbe said the ministry, private schools proprietors, the Ministry of Justice and the police would meet on Saturday to warn about the illegality of operating unaccredited schools.

He added that the meeting would also warn about the possibility shutting defaulting schools and the prosecution of their proprietors.

“We may reopen the registration window for a short period for final compliance and that is even after approval must have been obtained from the State Executive Council,’’ the commissioner said.

Wakilbe also told newsmen that Borno was placing high premium on technical and vocational education so as to produce graduates who could become self-employed.

“Out of the 1.8 million out-of-school children we have, a significant number have overgrown regular school cycles.

“A child who was four years old when the Boko Haram insurgency started is now around 15 years old and a person that was 10 years old then is now 20 years old.

“Most of them grew up in Internally Displaced Peoples camps.

“The best way to handle such children is through basic literacy, numeracy and technical skills acquisition so they can pick up their lives,’’ Wakilbe said.

He noted that the technical and vocational schools were so popular that when government went to distribute 450 admission forms at the newly-established vocational centre in Biu Local Government Area, about 5,000 applicants showed up.

Wakilbe said Gov. Babagana Zulum had to approve morning and afternoon sessions for the school among other measures to enable it to accommodate the upsurge of willing students.

`It is the same story at Shani Local Government Area. We are about to commission additional technical and vocational schools at Magumeri and Mafa Local Government Areas,’’ Wakilbe said.

Police Deploy to UniLag Over  School Fees Tension  

The police command in Lagos State has deployed its men to the University of Lagos (UNILAG) to maintain law and order as students express dissatisfaction with an increase in their school fees.

The command’s Public Relations Officer, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed the deployment on Wednesday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

He said that the policemen were deployed to prevent breakdown of law and order.

“The policemen were only posted to the campus to maintain peace and order.

“They are not meant to restrict movement in and out of the school. People are going in and coming out freely,” he said.

Hundeyin said that the students and the school authorities were discussing the increase in fees and working together to ensure that both parties would be satisfied at the end.

NAN reports that on Aug. 8, the National Association of Nigerian Students Joint Campus Council (NANS JCC), Lagos State Chapter, suspended its planned protest against increase in UNILAG school fees due to intervention by the state Commissioner of Police (CP), Mr Idowu Owohunwa.

According to Hundeyin, the commissioner met with the students’ leaders over the planned protest and assured them that he would meet with the university’s vice-chancellor to discuss their grievances.

“One of the students (name withheld) in the delegation, who is an indigent student, was given a scholarship by the CP throughout his university education.

“Based on this and others, the students’ leaders agreed to suspend the protest,” he said.

OAU Announces Adjusted Fees  

The authorities of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, have adjusted the fees that students of the institution would be paying this session.

A statement by the institution’s Public Relations Officer, Mr Abiodun Olarewaju, indicated that fresh students in the Faculties of Arts, Law and Humanities would pay N151,200 while their returning counterparts would pay N89,200.

The statement said that new students in the Faculties of Technology and Science would pay N163,200 while returning students would pay N101,200.

It said that fresh students in the Faculties of the College of Health Sciences and Pharmacy would pay N190,200 while the old students would pay N128,200 respectively.

“The decision was taken by the Senate of the university at its emergency meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 12.

“The management, therefore, wishes the students resounding success in their academic programmes,” he said. (NAN)