By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

The management of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) Ogbomoso, Oyo State, has reportedly increased fees for undergraduate students in the institution.

This was contained in a document posted ny the school authorities on Saturday, noting that LAUTECH had increased tuition fees for 2024/2025 fresh students.

The management of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) Ogbomoso, Oyo State, has reportedly increased fees for undergraduate students in the institution.

This was contained in a document posted ny the school authorities on Saturday, noting that LAUTECH had increased tuition fees for 2024/2025 fresh students.

It added that it ranged from N372,000 to N782,000, depending on faculties and state of origin.

“LAUTECH increases tuition fees for 2024/2025 fresh students, ranges from 372k to 782k, depending on faculties and state of origin,” a Facebook user, who shared the document, wrote.

A student of the University who confirmed the development to SaharaReporters recalled that the students of the institution previously paid fees which ranged from N261,000 to N283, 000.

The student explained that the management has now fixed new fees at N372, 000 to N782,000, stating that students studying medicine are now paying N782,000.

“Our fees in 2023/2024 session ranged from N261,000 to N283, 000, but the management has now fixed new fees at N372, 000 to N782, 000 for 2024/25 session.

“The students studying medicine are now to pay N782, 000,” the student added.

Before the recent alarming increment, the Oyo State government had announced 25 per cent reduction in the tuition of students of LAUTECH.

Governor Seyi Makinde made this known in 2021 while paying a visit to the students of the institution.

Makinde had said the reduction was done despite the fact that the LAUTECH tuition was the lowest in the entire South-West.

He added that the reduction would cut across the board.

He said he had fulfilled the promises he had made to the students during electioneering having fixed the Under G Road and actualised the sole ownership of LAUTECH for Oyo state.

“Let me tell you, the LAUTECH fee is still the lowest in the entire South-West. Having said that, I will reduce your fee across the board; whether indigenes or non-indigenes, even new students. There will be a reduction of 25 per cent across board,” the governor had said.

By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

The Kano State Command of the Nigeria Police Force has arrested a total of 82 suspects on suspicion of various crimes committed in the state between November 1 and 14 this year.

Crimes allegedly committed by the suspects include kidnappingarmed robberies, violence, telephone theft and drug trafficking.

Revealing details of the arrest during a press conference at the command headquarters, Bompai, Kano, the Police Public Relations Officer, Abdullahi Kiyawa, said the arrests were the result of a crime-fighting strategy adopted by the command.

“The implementation of these strategies has yielded positive results as they have led to the crackdown on criminal networks such as curtailing Remnants of Violent Activities (Daba) within Kano Metropolis.

Others include dismantling armed robbery syndicates along Jigawa-Kano and Bauchi-Kano borders and foiling kidnapping incidents along Kaduna-Kano and Katsina-Kano borders.

“These operations conducted resulted in the arrest of a total of 82 suspects and the recovery of firearms, dangerous weapons, illegal drugs and stolen property.

“Items recovered from the criminals included an AK-47 rifle and three locally made weapons, 13 machetes and 16 knives.

“Others include: three motorcycles, a tricycle, 50 bags of diazepam tablets, 42 bags of tramadol tablets, 24 packets, 175 wrappers of dried leaves suspected to be hemp and 10 mobile phones,” he said.

Kiyawa, representing the state Commissioner of Police, Salman Dogo, expressed that the achievements are a reflection of the command’s commitment to maintaining law and order.

He emphasized that the command would persevere in strengthening its various strategies, including community policing and strategic communications aimed at raising public awareness on security issues.

In addition, he emphasized the importance of intelligence-led policing and targeted clearance operations that have successfully disrupted criminal networks, especially in local government border areas.

He expressed gratitude to Governor Abba Yusuf for donating 78 patrol vehicles to the command, which will significantly strengthen its operational capabilities and response times, thereby improving service delivery to the citizens of the state.

By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

Ex- President Olusegun Obasanjo has lamented that Nigeria’s current economic situation is very bad and that the situation is made worse by the unwillingness of the leaders to take responsibility.

Obasanjo made this declaration in his keynote address at the Chinua Achebe Leadership Forum, held on Saturday at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, USA.

In his speech, titled: “Leadership Failure and State Capture in Nigeria,” he expressed concern over the country’s dire situation, noting, “as the world can see and understand, Nigeria’s situation is bad.”

Using Singapore as an example of a country with effective leadership, Obasanjo highlighted how the government there has remained responsive to the evolving needs of its citizens, making significant investments in sectors like healthcare, education, and social welfare.

He said, “Nigeria’s situation, as we can see and understand, is bad. The more the immorality and corruption of a nation, the more the nation sinks into chaos, insecurity, conflict, discord, division, disunity, depression, youth restiveness, confusion, violence, and underdevelopment.

“That’s the situation mostly in Nigeria in the reign of Baba-go-slow and Emilokan. The failing state status of Nigeria is confirmed and glaringly indicated and manifested for every honest person to see through the consequences of the level of our pervasive corruption, mediocrity, immorality, misconduct, mismanagement, perversion, injustice, incompetence and all other forms of iniquity. But yes, there is hope.”

The former President, while quoting from a short, classic treatise published in 1983 called, “The Trouble with Nigeria” by Chinua Achebe, said, “The trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely a failure of leadership.

The Nigerian problem is the unwillingness or inability of its leaders to rise to the responsibility, to the challenge of personal example which are the hallmarks of true leadership.”

According to him, two prominent US intellectuals, Robert Rotberg and John Campbell, had once raised the alarm about the failing status of Nigeria and its inevitable effects on the African continent given the country’s size, economic viability, and population, among others.

He described state capture “as one of the most pervasive forms of corruption, a situation where powerful individuals, institutions, companies, or groups within or outside a country use corruption to shape a nation’s policies, legal environment, and economy, to benefit their own private interests.

“State capture is not always overt and obvious. It can also arise from the more subtle close alignment of interests between specific business and political elites through family ties, friendships, and the intertwined ownership of economic assets.

“What is happening in Nigeria – right before our eyes – is state capture: The purchase of National assets by political elites – and their family members – at bargain prices, the allocation of national resources – minerals, land, and even human resources – to local, regional, and international actors. It must be prohibited and prevented through local and international laws.

“Public institutions such as the legislature, the executive, the judiciary, and regulatory agencies both at the federal and local levels are subject to capture.

“As such, state capture can broadly be understood as the disproportionate and unregulated influence of interest groups or decision-making processes where special interest groups manage to bend state laws, policies, and regulations.

“They do so through practices such as illicit contributions paid by private interests to political parties, and for election campaigns, vote-buying, buying of presidential decrees or court decisions, as well as through illegitimate lobbying and revolving door appointments.

“The main risk of state capture is that decisions no longer take into consideration the public interest but instead favour a specific special interest group or individual.

“Laws, policies, and regulations are designed to benefit a specific interest group, oftentimes to the detriment of smaller firms and groups and society in general.

“State capture can seriously affect economic development, regulatory quality, the provision of public services, quality of education and health services, infrastructure decisions, and even the environment and public health.”