Al-Qalam VC Says Kano Government Owes N38 Million Scholarship Fees

The Vice-Chancellor of Al-Qalam University in Katsina State, Prof. Nasiru Musa-Yauri,  has revealed that the Government of Kano State owes the university over N38 million to be used for students' scholarships.

Musa-Yauri disclosed this while speaking to journalists on the challenges faced by the university on Thursday in Katsina.

He noted that the debt initially amounted to over N52.8 million, adding that the university has not been encouraged over time, despite its low tuition fees.

The VC said the university's tuition fees range from N135,000 to N270,00, depending on the course of study. 

He said: “You can pay parts of the tuition fees at the end of the first semester, the end of the second semester and at the end of the third semester, to make it easier for you, since we know that the majority of our students are from low earning groups.

“As we are discussing now, we are still expecting the Kano Government to fulfil its financial obligation to us on some of the students it gave scholarships to study in our university.

“We are appealing to Nigerians with a conscience to help us appeal to the Kano state Government for the payment of the money.”

“The total amount was N52.8 million, but the Kano Government said it would not pay for those with the spill-over among the students. So, we said, okay.

“Up till now, the state government has not paid the N38.183 million despite the fact that this university is a charity institution and we depend on people and organisations with kind hearts for survival.” 

The University Don further appealed to the government to fulfil its financial obligation to the school considering the students of the institution.

He said the payment of the 38.183 million would assist the management in developing several infrastructures in the university.

 The Kano State Commissioner for Higher Education, Hajiya Mariya Mahmoud-Bunkure,  when contacted by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) said she was aware of the situation.

 Mahmoud-Bunkure maintained that she had discussed with the management of the institution how to settle the debt.

She added that she filed and submitted a report on this cause to Governor Ganduje, but she is yet to receive a response.