Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, immediate past Vice-Chancellor of Lagos State University (LASU), has said public universities across Nigeria would need to charge at least N1 million tuition per student to achieve financial independence. Olatunji-Bello made the disclosure in an interview with Punch while reflecting on her five-year tenure at LASU, which ended……
Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, immediate past Vice-Chancellor of Lagos State University (LASU), has said public universities across Nigeria would need to charge at least N1 million tuition per student to achieve financial independence.
Olatunji-Bello made the disclosure in an interview with Punch while reflecting on her five-year tenure at LASU, which ended on Saturday.
The professor of physiology, who became the university’s vice-chancellor in 2021, identified funding among the major challenges encountered during her administration, despite the achievements recorded.
She said LASU currently spends more than N1 billion monthly on its payroll, while the university’s N13 billion internally generated revenue (IGR) remains insufficient to cover its salary obligations.
According to the former vice-chancellor, universities seeking financial self-sustainability would need to substantially increase their fees to meet the rising cost of running their institutions.
“Universities can achieve financial self-sustainability. If they can innovate and ensure improvements in the institution, money will come in,” she said.
“But then, if the money comes in, how do you spend it? Right now, LASU does not have financial self-sustainability.
“We may have increased our dedicated revenue, but we cannot survive. Our payroll right now is over N1bn per month. All the N13bn IGR does not cover our salaries.
“So, universities that want to attain self-sustainability will have to increase school fees into millions.”
Olatunji-Bello noted that some secondary schools charge more than N1 million per term, while certain universities still collect about N100,000 annually, describing the disparity as unsustainable.
“So, any public university that wants to sustain financial independence will have to charge school fees of not less than N1 million per student,” she said.
The former LASU VC also stressed the financial demands of maintaining academic excellence, urging parents to prioritise their children’s education and ensure they receive quality schooling.
She added that “good quality education needs money”.
Looking back on her time at LASU, Olatunji-Bello identified the students’ union protest in 2024 over a N10,000 payment for computer-based testing (CBT) as the lowest point of her five-year tenure.
She, however, described LASU’s emergence as the most subscribed university among UTME candidates in 2025 as one of the biggest highlights of her administration.
“When JAMB declared that we were the most subscribed university by UTME candidates in Nigeria; that was great for me,” she said.
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“And this year, 2026, we maintained that number one position. And not only did we maintain it, but we were even awarded N25m for maintaining compliance with JAMB regulations.”
She said her administration introduced new programmes, expanded digital processes and explored additional revenue-generating opportunities throughout the five-year tenure, helping to increase the university’s IGR from N3 billion to N13 billion.
On September 10, Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu appointed Badejo Olawumi to succeed Olatunji-Bello as LASU vice-chancellor.
According to a statement by Lagos Commissioner for Information and Strategy Gbenga Omotoso, Olawumi, a professor of guidance and counselling, was born on August 4, 1962.
Olatunji-Bello’s position comes amid growing concerns over the persistent underfunding of public universities across Nigeria.
On September 9, Education Minister Tunji Alausa urged vice-chancellors of public universities to diversify their sources of funding, stressing that government resources alone could not sustain tertiary institutions.
Alausa said universities have significant opportunities through alumni networks, research grants, philanthropy, endowments and private-sector partnerships, but noted that many institutions had neglected the structures required to take advantage of those opportunities.
“To our Vice Chancellors: the era of waiting for the government to fund everything must end,” he said.
“Build the structures. Mobilise the resources. Strengthen your institutions. That is your responsibility, and it must become part of your legacy.”
