Preach to the poor- High fees in Church universities!

“If education is too expensive, try ignorance,” so goes a popular maxim. 
However, The Guardian’s investigations reveal that church universities, which ordinarily ought to make education affordable, charge high fees —- out of the reach of common men.
Figures from the schools’ websites indicate fees as high as the following: Covenant University, N640, 000; Redeemers University, N375, 000; Bowen University, N650, 000; Madonna University, N350,000; Ajayi Crowther N350, 000; Benson Idahosa, N500, 000; Joseph Ayo Babalola University, N436,000; Babcock University, N450, 000, among others. 

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MANY Nigerians live under severe economic conditions though they still manage to smile. They are most vulnerable and have very little to make life worthwhile for themselves and their children.
But do
Nigerian churches really care about the masses of their faithful in terms of quality education?
Duane Ruth-Heffelbower, an Associate Professor of Peacemaking and Conflict Studies at Fresno, Pacific University, California during his presentation at the 4th Annual Restorative Justice Conference in 1996, identified three roles of a modern church, which are to witness to God’s love and power; call society to peace, justice and compassion and work towards the welfare of all members in the society.
According to Heffelbower, the church must have special concern for the poor and powerless, as the best interests of the rich and powerful are not a concern since they are doing fine.
But fees charged by ivory towers seem to run counter to Heffelbower’s.
Though many churches have impacted positively on the educational sector by providing centres of educational excellence, the reality is that the children of the masses are not benefiting from these universities.
Ebenezer Akinrinade, a Coordinator of African Resourceful Leaders Foundation (ARL) believes it is worrisome that almost everything is now  “business” and churches and NGOs also joining the practice.
“I think most church leaders are losing it gradually as the love of money is fast overriding the love of God, which is service to humanity.
“I feel aggrieved most times because these same church derives the money to build universities from the tithes and offerings paid by both poor and rich members of the congregation. Yet, they deny the members, especially the poor, from the fruit of their labour,” he said.

Akinrinade suggested that the issue be brought before Christian bodies like the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) to address the issue better.
He noted: “They all enjoyed free missionary education in their own time, so why should a man that depends on less than a dollar per pay hundreds of thousands to get education in an environment like ours? Members should get some subsidy like scholarships and discounts.”

A co-host of The Breakfast Show on Satellite TV station, Hitv, Joy Isi Bewaji, expressed the view that religion has become a problem everywhere in the world, and a bigger menace in developing countries like Nigeria.
“It is always hard for me to understand the dealings of the 21st Century church. I think it has deviated from her real essence of love and compassion, which was something about which Christ was so passionate.
“How can a church justify collecting hundreds of thousands naira from schools built with the poor earnings of the average Church-goers?”
In the same vein, Laolu, a Law graduate from the University of Lagos, agreed that the fees of church universities are too high for a common man.
“I should add that most churches in Nigeria are keen on just the spiritual poverty of their members which is wrong. More attention should be given to those who have limited resources to send their wards to good schools,” he disclosed
He urged churches to play a leading role in assuaging the pains of the poor members feel, noting that programmes need to be designed to aid their knowledge on finance and also help them start and run businesses properly.
To him, there is no sense having so many leaders in the churches living well and their followers are living in poverty because it means their message on hope and prosperity is not effective.
“We should feel their impacts on the lives of those with little or nothing. What is the point of members hero-worshipping their leaders and going home each night to pray against poverty?”

Leke Bakare, a former Students’ Union President of Lagos State University said it is pitiful that churches have now turned universities to profit-making enterprises.
“Most of the churches are mainly concerned about those who have the money to pay, not even the poor members who, by all means, struggle to raise money for the completion of the projects,” he said.

A graduate, Henry Oladeyinde opined that church universities should be avenues where people or members seeking admission should be able to attend without spending fortunes.
“As a result of the high school fees of both church and private universities, even the state universities are increasing their fees, LASU being the most recent. Does this means poor people won’t go to university anymore,” he declared.

He urged the Church, government and other stakeholders to look critically into the issue because “we don’t know the motive behind the creation of these church universities anymore.”
In his response to these criticisms, Professor Sola Fajana, Vice Chancellor, Joseph Ayo Babalola University (JABU), submitted that training a science student in the university requires about N800, 000 per session and this calculation was even before the fuel subsidy removal.

To Pastor Bode Orunsola Thomas of The Redeemed Christian Church of God, the debate should not be about whether the fees are high or not. “We need to define whether quality or quantity education is what we want.”
Fees, he said, are determined by the quality of  education, insisting that anyone who wants quality education must be ready to pay high fees.

On his part, Pastor in charge of Lagos Province 14, The Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Jide Akiode declared: “Every church puts into consideration the welfare of its members before establishing a university.”
He added: “Just as The Guardian spends a lot in running its organisation, so also do these church universities spend even more in running their schools,” he averred.
While saying that he was not in the best position to comment on the issue, he said: “I think the management of the school should be in the best position to shed more light on it.”
But the Registrar, Joseph Ayo Babalola University (JABU), Barrister Wale
Aderibigbe, vehemently objected to comparisons of the fees charged by church universities and the economic state of the ordinary folks.
“It is not an issue to be discussed at all,” he declared.
A source from the Registrar’s office, Covenant University, said starting from the second year, students are given the grace to pay their school fees twice.
The source therefore said there is a scholarship scheme organised by the church for members who cannot afford the fees or less-privileged children.
It adds that that to get more information on the scheme, the church management would be in a better position. But the contact given to The Guardian from the Registrar’s office was not reachable.
Also, efforts to speak with the Vice Chancellor of Madonna University yielded little result.
When call was forwarded to the VC’s office, the receiver responded, “I am not in the best position to answer anything about the school charges.”
“Call the Bursar as he is in the best position to give you the detailed information you need,” he declared.


Culled - The Guardian News