ASUU accuses top LASU officials of admission racketeering

The Lagos State University (LASU) chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has alleged secrecy and racketeering in the university’s admission process.

In a letter dated October 15, 2018 and signed by Tony Dansu, secretary of the union, and Adeolu Oyekan, his assistant, ASUU-LASU alleged that staff in the “highest offices within the university” are engaging in admission racketeering.

The letter said after the first batch of applicants were ratified by heads of departments, names of applicants who scored below cut-off marks were injected into the admission list.

The union said it noticed the “worrisome trend” in the 2017 admission process where the 3,500 applicants earlier quoted by the university increased to 4,343 who were cleared for matriculation.

“We are therefore left to wonder if the announcement a few days ago is this time a genuine closure of the process or yet another ritualistic declaration that In fact signals the commencement of another round of admissions under an arbitrarily determined process,” the letter read.

“It is important to have a standardized procedure for admitting students. Equally important if not more is the need to make such procedure very transparent to all and sundry. Where provision has been made for discretionary admission, it should be very clear what percentage of the total number is based on merit as well as the one based on discretion.

“An admission process perceived as shoddy and subject to patronage erodes faith in the system. Where applicants who are much qualified from the pool of thousands who seek to patronize the University on account of its location in a cosmopolitan city like Lagos are bypassed In large numbers, it inevitably rubs off on the quality of intakes, with departments compelled to push those admitted from one session to another, to avoid recording mass failures.

“We can minimize the need for regular upgrades of results by departments if from the outset we ensure that a transparent process throws up in very large numbers intending students who are qualified on merits.”