Lagos State University has ignited a storm of outrage after announcing its 2026/2027 Indigeneship Verification Exercise, a policy that critics are labeling discriminatory and a direct assault on the Nigerian Constitution.
The university announced that only candidates of Lagos State origin who scored 195 and above in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations are eligible for the exercise. Prospective students are required to submit a daunting list of documents, including a father’s birth certificate, a letter from the Oba, longstanding land documents, and a letter from the local government. Candidates must be cleared by the Independent Indigeneship Verification Committee before they can even be considered for admission. The university was quick to add a disclaimer that the exercise does not guarantee admission into the institution.
Legal experts and human rights advocates have slammed the policy as unconstitutional. Section 42(1) of the 1999 Constitution explicitly prohibits discrimination against any Nigerian citizen on grounds of community, ethnic group, place of origin, or state of birth. A landmark Federal High Court judgment in 2014 declared state based admission inequality unconstitutional under this very section. Leading human rights organizations have also documented how such discrimination by state and local governments contravenes both the Nigerian Constitution and international human rights law.
Critics argue that LASU’s policy flies in the face of these legal precedents. By requiring non indigenous Nigerians to jump through bureaucratic hoops while effectively giving preferential treatment to Lagos indigenes, the university is violating the fundamental rights of thousands of qualified candidates from other states.
The announcement has triggered a wave of backlash on social media, where many have described the policy as ridiculous and unconstitutional. Observers are now calling on the National Human Rights Commission and legal advocacy groups to challenge LASU’s policy in court. A legal source told this newspaper, “If this goes unchallenged, it sets a dangerous precedent for other state owned universities to discriminate with impunity.” THEMATRIX News will continue to monitor the situation as pressure mounts on LASU’s management to reverse the decision.
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