…Admission Seekers Raise the Alarm As Post Graduate Admission Goes For N250,000 in Varsity
By Matthew Don
Barely 24 hours after authorities of the University of Lagos suspended a lecturer in the department of Arts, Dr. Boniface Igbeneghu for alleged sexual harassment, the board of the School has been asked to probe alleged money-for admission going on in the school for long.
It was gathered that those behind this sordid act demand as much as N250,000 from each candidate seeking admission for a post graduate programme.
One admission seeker, who spoke on condition of anonymity said she applied for a post graduate programme a few months ago but to her greatest surprise, a man, who coordinates the illegal deal, allegedly for the office in charge of post graduate admissions, told her point blank that the only way she could secure admission was to pay N250,000.
According to her, she initially thought it was a joke but only for her to discover that the trend had been on for long and only those who made the payment secured admissions.
She said all efforts to convince the man that besides that she has no such amount to part with, since she is struggling to raise money for the school fees, which was said to be in the region of N350,000, proved abortive as he insisted that payment of the amount was the precondition for admission.
The woman said she inquired from other people who wrote the aptitude text for the admission and they confirmed they had been contacted for the money.
Whereas some of them have made the payment in the hope that they would be offered admission, the likes of the source, who have no such amount to part with are considering other options.
Asked why she did not bring the matter to the knowledge of the school authorities, she said she was reliably informed that she might lose her life if they discovered she was the one that exposed the illicit deal.
“The man collects the money for those in charge of admission as I was made to understand. So since I have no such amount, and it is against my fate as a Christian, I will have no choice than to seek admission some where else.
” It was in fact now that I am hearing how they rip-off admission seekers both for undergraduate courses and postgraduate courses. If it is not bribe, it is sex as settlement. I just hope the Pro-Chancellor, Wale Babalakin, SAN, will take urgent action by directing investigation into this. This people are tarnishing the reputation of the once highly reputable institution.
“I’m not surprised that some people who graduated with good grades from the school nowadays, can’t even write their names. It is terrible,” she lamented.
She further added that three years ago, her friend told her how she borrowed N200,000 to pay to secure admission for her son after he wrote post-JAMB.
She has vowed to expose those behind it with available evidence should this trend continue and the authorities attempt to sweep it under the carpet.